Using Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment in Audiology Research: The Participants' Perspective

Purpose The article's purpose was to examine participants' impressions and experiences with smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to inform future EMA study design. Method Adults with hearing impairment (HI, n = 9) and with normal hearing (NH, n = 10) participated in a study using a smartphone-based EMA system to measure their auditory lifestyles. A 14-item survey was scheduled to deliver every 45 min by an EMA app. After a 1-week trial, participants were interviewed regarding their study experiences. The app log files were analyzed to understand how the participants interacted with the app. Results Across the two groups, 1,295 surveys were completed (compliance rate 74.4%). On average, HI participants completed 10.0 and NH participants completed 9.1 surveys per day. The mean survey completion time for HI and NH groups were 72 s and 51 s, respectively. For both groups, about 90% of the participants reported the app as easy to use; about 60% of the participants reported that repetitive surveys interrupted or somewhat interrupted their activities. Participants reported surveys disrupting situations, for example, working, driving, and social events, and that they were more likely to skip surveys in these situations. Additionally, 50% of NH and 30% of HI participants indicated that the survey was not delivered too frequently and none indicated that the survey was too long. Conclusion Overall, the app and EMA design seem to be appropriate. Insights from this study can help researchers design their studies to adequately assess listeners' experience in the field with optimal compliance and data quality.