Perspectives on Hearing Aid Cost and Uptake for Prescription and Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Users.
Purpose: This study explored user perspectives on the relationship between hearing aid cost and uptake, as well as cost-related recommendations for others with hearing difficulties, in a sample of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid users. Method: A secondary analysis was conducted o...
| Publicado en: | American Journal of Audiology Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 942 - 953 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Sep2024
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=179449876&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 179449876 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10590889 5KS jtl: American Journal of Audiology issn: 10590889 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2024 vid: 33 iid: 3 pid: 42 pub: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association place: Rockville, Maryland artinfo: ui: 179449876 179449876 179449876 10.1044/2024_aja-23-00116 179449876 ppf: 942 ppct: 11 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Perspectives on Hearing Aid Cost and Uptake for Prescription and Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Users. aug: au: Knoetze, Megan Manchaiah, Vinaya Oosthuizen, Ilze Beukes, Eldre Swanepoel, De Wet affil: Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa sug: subj: Hearing Aids Economics Hearing Disorders Therapy Health Care Costs Patient Attitudes Prescriptions, Non-Drug Economics Health Services Accessibility Economic Aspects of Illness Human Exploratory Research Secondary Analysis Aged Male Female Patient Compliance Audiologists Psychologists Content Analysis Questionnaires Cost Benefit Analysis Socioeconomic Factors Aged: 65+ years Male Female ab: Purpose: This study explored user perspectives on the relationship between hearing aid cost and uptake, as well as cost-related recommendations for others with hearing difficulties, in a sample of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid users. Method: A secondary analysis was conducted on a cross-sectional survey using qualitative content analysis to analyze responses related to the cost of hearing aids. The study included a total of 241 adult participants, comprising 179 prescription hearing aid users from the Hearing Tracker website and 62 OTC hearing aid users from the Lexie Hearing U.S. database. Results: Prescription users had a mean age of 66.7 years (SD = 13.2), including 62.0% males, 37.4% females, and 0.6% nonbinary individuals. OTC users had a mean age of 63.0 years (SD = 13.4), with 48.4% males and 51.6% females. Three overarching domains were identified: perceived enablers to hearing aid uptake related to the cost, perceived barriers to hearing aid uptake related to the cost, and recommendations to others with hearing difficulties related to the cost, with 14 categories recognized for prescription users and 12 for OTC users. Both groups identified the high cost of hearing aids and lack of insurance coverage as significant barriers to uptake. Many prescription users reported external support (e.g., financial support and health insurance coverage) as an enabler, while OTC users frequently mentioned the affordability of OTC devices. The most common recommendation among prescription users was to seek professional support, whereas OTC users recommended researching hearing aids before making a purchase. Conclusions: Cost and insurance coverage consistently emerge as primary barriers to hearing aid adoption for both prescription and OTC users. To foster greater accessibility, initiatives should target these financial obstacles. Additional research is warranted on the relationship between hearing aid cost and uptake, especially among OTC users and those seeking financial assistance. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26496922 pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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