How do patients decide on interventions for single sided deafness? A qualitative investigation of patient views

Thomas Underdown, Helen Pryce*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background: Single-sided deafness presents communication challenges for adults. There are a range of care options, including CROS hearing aids, available but little is known about patient preferences for these interventions. Objective: The objective of this study was to understand the viewpoints of patients making decisions about audiological interventions they use. Methods: A constructivist worldview using thematic analysis to undertake a constant comparative analysis of 8 semi-structured interviews. Sampling: Participants were recruited from Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust audiology service in England. Findings: The results of the study describe ongoing iterative judgements being made by participants, informed by their access to information, effectiveness of audiological interventions, stigma, barriers to accessing care, and constant cost-benefit analyses being made. The key factors involved in decision-making by individuals with Single-sided deafness (SSD) are discussed. Conclusions: This study represents the first in-depth exploration of the individual's lifeworld related to which factors influence use of different audiological interventions by individuals with SSD. It highlights the complex and ongoing nature of how decisions are made by these individuals and identifies the need for greater information provision by clinicians, such as through use of a decision aid tool.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Audiology
Early online date10 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Aug 2021

Bibliographical note

(c) 2021, The Authors. Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology, and Nordic Audiological Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

Keywords

  • Single sided deafness
  • hearing aids
  • patient experience
  • qualitative

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