Meaningful life changes following hearing aid use : a qualitative user perspective

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore meaningful life changes due to hearing aid use in adult users. Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used with open-ended questions analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Study sample: US-based adult hearing aid users (n=653) from the Hearing Tracker website community and Lexie Hearing database. Results: Participants had a mean age of 65.4 years (13.6 SD), including 61.2% males, 38.3% females (0.5% other). Analysis of 2122 meaning units from responses identified two broad domains: 'meaningful benefits' (n=1709; 80.5%) and 'remaining difficulties' (n=413; 19.5%). The meaningful benefits domain included five categories (27 sub-categories): (a) psychosocial benefits, (b) improvements in hearing, (c) personal benefits, (d) hearing aid features and connectivity, and (e) situational benefits. Participants reported enhanced relationships and improved occupational functioning as key benefits. The remaining difficulties domain contained four categories (25 sub-categories): (a) hearing aid limitations, (b) hearing and communication issues, (c) situational difficulties, and (d) personal issues. Notable difficulties included hearing aid design issues and challenges in noisy environments. Conclusion: Hearing aid users reported diverse benefits and persistent challenges related to device use, illustrating the complexity of their lived experiences. These findings can inform empathetic, effective rehabilitation strategies and user-centric hearing aid technologies.