Search

Objective: Our objective was to develop and assess a questionnaire measuring the constructs of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) regarding older adults' behaviours towards seeking a hearing test. Design: Older adults who failed a hearing screening completed a newly developed Theory of Planned Behavior-Hearing Help Seeking (TPB-HHS) questionnaire. A principal components analysis (PCA) examined the factor structure of the questionnaire, and a reliability analysis determined the internal consistency of the factors. An examination of six-month follow-up data determined whether the questionnaire differentiated between individuals who did and did not seek out a hearing test by comparing their TPB-HHS scores. Study Sample: Participants were 407 adults aged 50 to 89 recruited at community hearing screenings. Results: PCA and reliability analyses resulted in a 4-factor, 18 item questionnaire. Three of four factors demonstrated acceptable internal consistency. The TPB-HHS explained 60.18% of the variance and factors were interpreted to be measuring the constructs of Intentions, Perceived Behavioral Control, Attitudes, and Subjective Norms. Individuals who sought a hearing test scored significantly higher on the Intentions, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Attitudes scales than those who did not. Conclusions: The TPB-HHS provides insight into underlying psychological mechanisms that drive behaviours related to hearing help-seeking in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more than 50% of the nursing workforce close to retirement, it is especially important to keep younger nurses in nursing jobs and careers. This study empirically tests a structural equation model of registered nurse (RN) intent to leave the job and profession using data from a survey of newly licensed RNs (NLRNs). Job demands, difficulties and control, intent to leave the job, and intent to leave the profession were latent variables. A number of direct, indirect, and mediating relationships were modeled. Measurement models for all latent variables and the structural model had good fit. The final model showed a path from job demands, difficulties, and control to job satisfaction to intent to leave the job to intent to leave the profession. The results suggest that the process of an NLRN intending to leave the job and profession involves a number of mediators between the work environment and this intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the doctor of audiology (AuD) program at the University of South Florida (USF). The USF AuD program has been operational since the fall of 1999 and, to date, 47 students have graduated from either the postbaccalaureate track or the post-master's track. The faculty consists of 9 full-time and 8 part-time adjunct members who provide a curriculum that covers the audiology scope of practice. Being located in a major metropolitan area allows for diverse clinical practicum experiences that result in students being prepared to become autonomous professional practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adults typically wait 7-10 yr after noticing hearing problems before seeking help, possibly because they are unaware of the extent of their impairment. Hearing screenings, frequently conducted at health fairs, community events, and retirement centers can increase this awareness. To our knowledge, there are no published studies in which testing conditions and outcomes have been examined for multiple "typical screening events." Purpose: The purpose of this article is to report hearing screening outcomes for pure tones and self-report screening tests and to examine their relationshipwith ambient noise levels in various screening environments. Study Sample: One thousand nine hundred fifty-four individuals who completed a hearing screening at one of 191 community-based screening events that took place in the Portland, OR, and Tampa, FL, metro areas. Data Collection and Analysis: The data were collected during the recruitment phase of a large multisite study. All participants received a hearing screening that consisted of otoscopy, pure-tone screening, and completion of the Hearing Handicap Inventory--Screening Version (HHI-S). In addition, ambient sound pressure levels were measured just before pure-tone testing. Results: Many more individuals failed the pure-tone screening (n = 1,238) and then failed the HHI-S (n = 796). The percentage of individuals who failed the pure-tone screening increased linearly with age from <20% for ages <45 yr to almost 100% for individuals aged ≥85 yr. On the other hand, the percentage of individuals who failed the HHI-S remained unchanged at approximately 40% for individuals aged ≥55 yr. Ambient noise levels varied considerably across the hearing screening locations. They impacted the pure-tone screen failure rate but not the HHI-S failure rate. Conclusions: It is important to select screening locations with a quiet space for pure-tone screening, use headphones with good passive attenuation, measure sound levels regularly during hearing screening events, halt testing if ambient noise levels are high, and/or alert individuals to the possibility of a false-positive screening failure. The data substantiate prior findings that the relationship between pure-tone sensitivity and reported hearing loss changes with age. Although it might be possible to develop age-specific HHI-S failure criteria to adjust for this, such an endeavor is not recommended because perceived difficulties are the best predictor of hearing health behaviors. Instead, it is proposed that a public health focus on education about hearing and hearing loss would be more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Blast exposure is a major source of injury among Service members in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Many of these blast-exposed veterans report hearing-related problems such as difficulties understanding speech in noise and rapid speech, and following instructions and long conversations that are disproportionate to their measured peripheral hearing sensitivity. Evidence is mounting that these complaints result from damage to the central auditory processing system. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of audiological rehabilitative interventions for blast-exposed veterans with normal or near-normal peripheral hearing and functional hearing difficulties. Research Design: A randomized controlled trial with four intervention arms. Study Sample: Ninety-nine blast-exposed veterans with normal or near-normal peripheral hearing who reported functional hearing difficulties. Intervention: Four interventions were compared: compensatory communication strategies (CCS) education, CCS and use of a personal frequency modulation system (FM + CCS), CCS and use of an auditory training program (AT + CCS), and use of all three interventions combined (FM + AT + CCS). Data Collection and Analysis: All participants tested before, and immediately following an 8-week intervention period. The primary outcome measures upon which the study was powered assessed speech understanding in noise and self-reported psychosocial impacts of the intervention. In addition, auditory temporal processing, auditory working memory, allocation of attention, and hearing and cognitive self-report outcomes were assessed. Results: Use of FM + CCS resulted in significant benefit for speech understanding in noise and self-reported hearing benefits, and FM + AT + CCS provided more self-reported cognitive benefits than FM + CCS, AT + CCS, or CCS. Further, individuals liked and reported using the FM system, but there was poor adherence to and high attrition among individuals assigned to receive AT. Conclusions: It is concluded that a FM system (or remote microphone via Bluetooth system) is an effective intervention for blast-exposed veterans with normal or near-normal hearing and functional hearing difficulties and should be routinely considered as an intervention approach for this population when possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vast numbers of blast-injured Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation New Dawn personnel report postconcussive symptoms that include headache, dizziness, poor memory, and difficulty concentrating. In addition, many report hearing problems, such as difficulty understanding speech in noise, yet have no measureable peripheral auditory deficits. In this article, self-report and performance- based measures were used to assess 99 blast-exposed Veterans. All participants reported auditory problems in difficult listening situations but had clinically normal hearing. Participants' scores on self-report questionnaires of auditory difficulties were more similar to scores of older individuals with hearing impairment than to those of younger individuals with normal hearing. Participants showed deficits relative to published normative data on a number of performance-based tests that have demonstrated sensitivity to auditory processing deficits. There were several measures on which more than the expected number of participants (15.9%) performed one or more standard deviations below the mean. These were assessments of speech understanding in noise, binaural processing, temporal resolution, and speech segregation. Performance was not universally poor, with approximately 53% of participants performing abnormally on between 3 and 6 of the 10 measures. We concluded that participants exhibited task-specific deficits that add to the evidence suggesting that blast injury results in damage to the central auditory system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several self-report measures exist that target different aspects of outcomes for hearing aid use. Currently, no comprehensive questionnaire specifically assesses factors that may be important for differentiating outcomes pertaining to hearing aid style. Purpose: The goal of this work was to develop the Style Preference Survey (SPS), a questionnaire aimed at outcomes associated with hearing aid style differences. Two experiments were conducted. After initial item development, Experiment 1 was conducted to refine the items and to determine its psychometric properties. Experiment 2 was designed to cross-validate the findings from the initial experiment. Research Design: An observational design was used in both experiments. Study Sample: Participants who wore traditional, custom-fitted (TC) or open-canal (OC) style hearing aids from 3 mo to 3 yr completed the initial experiment. One-hundred and eighty-four binaural hearing aid users (120 of whom wore TC hearing aids and 64 of whom wore OC hearing aids) participated. A new sample of TC and OC users (n 5 185) participated in the cross-validation experiment. Data Collection and Analysis: Currently available self-report measures were reviewed to identify items that might differentiate between hearing aid styles, particularly preference for OC versus TC hearing aid styles. A total of 15 items were selected and modified from available self-report measures. An additional 55 items were developed through consensus of six audiologists for the initial version of the SPS. In the first experiment, the initial SPS version was mailed to 550 veterans who met the inclusion criteria. A total of 184 completed the SPS. Approximately three weeks later, a subset of participants (n 5 83) completed the SPS a second time. Basic analyses were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the SPS including subscale structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and responsiveness. Based on the results of Experiment 1, the SPS was revised. A cross-validation experiment was then conducted using the revised version of the SPS to confirm the subscale structure, internal consistency, and responsiveness of the questionnaire in a new sample of participants. Results: The final factor analysis led to the ultimate version of the SPS, which had a total of 35 items encompassing five subscales: (1) Feedback, (2) Occlusion/Own Voice Effects, (3) Localization, (4) Fit,Comfort, and Cosmetics, and (5) Ease of Use. The internal consistency of the total SPS (Cronbach’sa5.92) and of the subscales (each Cronbach’sa..75) was high. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) showed that the test-retest reliability of the total SPS (ICC5.93) and of the subscales (each ICC..80) also was high.TC hearing aid users had significantly poorer outcomes than OC hearing aid users on 4 of the 5 subscales,suggesting that the SPS largely is responsive to factors related to style-specific differences.Conclusions: The results suggest that the SPS has good psychometric properties and is a valid and reliable measure of outcomes related to style-specific, hearing aid preference.Abbreviations: BTE 5 behind the ear; CIC 5 completely in the canal; DI 5 directivity index; ICC 5intraclass correlation; ITE 5 in the ear; MARS-HA 5 Measure of Audiologic Rehabilitation Self-Efficacy for Hearing Aids; OC 5 open canal; PCA 5 principal components analysis; RITA 5receiver-in-the-aid; RITE 5 receiver in the ear; SADL 5 Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life;SPS 5 Style Preference Survey; SSQ 5 Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale; TC 5traditional, custom fitted [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]