This study investigated the relationship between psychological acceptance of hearing loss and perceived hearing aid benefit in older adults and examined whether psychological flexibility remains a significant predictor of benefit after accounting for demographic, audiological, and clinical factors.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists should consider screening for psychological flexibility and general health status as part of hearing aid counselling, as these factors may independently predict patient-reported benefit.
Identifying non-audiological predictors of perceived hearing aid benefit opens the door to more personalised, whole-person counselling approaches that could improve real-world outcomes.
- 01Published in Journal of Communication Disorders (PMID 42790324).
- 02Psychological flexibility — the ability to adapt thoughts and behaviours — is examined as a predictor of hearing aid satisfaction.
- 03General health status is also assessed as an independent predictor variable.
- 04Study population is older adults with hearing loss.
- 05Findings suggest patient mindset and health may matter as much as device performance in perceived benefit.
Psychological flexibility predicts perceived hearing aid benefit in older adults with hearing loss.
studypartially supportedHealth status independently predicts perceived hearing aid benefit in older adults with hearing loss.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42790324
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2026.106697.
- Journal
- Journal of Communication Disorders
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Older adults with hearing loss who use hearing aids
- Intervention
- Assessment of psychological flexibility and health status as predictor variables
Primary outcomes
Perceived hearing aid benefit; Association between psychological flexibility and hearing aid satisfaction; Association between health status and hearing aid satisfaction