Effectiveness of the active communication education program in improving the general quality of life of older adults who use hearing aids: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract Background Hearing loss in older adults affects general, generic health-related and disease-specific quality of life (QoL). The conventional strategy to address it is through hearing aids, which have been shown to improve disease-specific QoL. However, the long-term results regarding general quality of life are unknown, and communication problems and stigma associated with hearing loss may persist. An effective intervention strategy to address these problems is group communication programs, most notably Active Communication Education (ACE). This program has been shown to increase communication strategies and reduce communication activity limitations and participation restrictions. These precedents allow us to hypothesize that this program could improve general QoL. Methods A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 114 older adult hearing aid users. Fifty-four subjects composed the intervention group that received the ACE program, while 60 subjects composed the control group that received an informational-lectures type intervention. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to measure general QoL. Measurements were taken before and right after the intervention, with follow-ups at 6 and 12 months. Multilevel linear mixed models were estimated, considering the WHOQOL-BREF dimension scores and total score as the outcomes, and an interaction term between time since intervention and group as the predictor. Within- and between-group comparisons were made. Results Compared to the baseline time-point, the ACE group showed significant improvements right after the intervention, and at the 6-month and 12-month follow-ups for the dimensions of psychological health, social relationships, environment, and total score. Compared to the control group, the ACE group exhibited significantly greater improvements in the social dimension at all postintervention assessments, as well as in the environment dimension and total score at the 12-month follow-up. Conclusions The ACE program improved general QoL in terms of social relationships and environment dimensions, which lasted up to 12 months after the intervention. Therefore, ACE is positioned as an effective complement for HA users, enhancing and delivering new benefits related to broader aspects of QoL not necessarily tied to health. Trial registration ISRCTN54021189 (retrospectively registered on 18/07/2023).