The Use of Outcome Measures in Clinical Practice [Part 2]

By John E. Tecca, Kristy K. Deiters, and Greg Flame

This article is a part of the July/August 2017, Volume 29, Number 4, Audiology Today issue.

Introduction

The “Use of Outcome Measures in Clinical Practice: Part 1” discussed the rationale for routine use of outcome measures in clinical practice. It described the development of the Hearing Aid Follow-Up Survey (HAFUS) and the issues surrounding its implementation. The details for the group of 303 patients (Group 1) that were described in the analysis of the HAFUS are included in Part 1. Also, the final HAFUS form can be seen in Appendix A of Part 1. Part 2 of this article discusses some of the factors that may have influenced outcomes of hearing aid fittings. It also discusses results we have accumulated over the subsequent three and a half years and some of the ways the HAFUS has been used in our practice. This project has been approved by the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board of Western Michigan University.

Comparison to Independent Variables

There are many variables that may contribute to the success or failure of a hearing aid fitting. We were interested in determining if any of the more commonly discussed independent variables might have affected the outcomes of our group of 303 patients. Specifically, we considered the patient variables of age, gender, degree of hearing loss, previous experience with hearing aids, and financial contribution from third-party payers to the purchase of their hearing aids. We also considered hearing aid variables including level of technology, use of one or two hearing aids, and whether the ear canal was partially or fully occluded versus open fit.