Can hearing dogs provide measurable benefit for individuals with severe or profound hearing loss?
Stuttard and colleagues (2021) examined the effects on mental well-being, anxiety, depression, functional impairments, and hearing-related difficulties for adults with either severe or profound hearing loss after having had a hearing support dog for six months. They also evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the program related to quality-adjusted life years.
Study participants were randomized to either receive a hearing dog or to a waitlist group. Statistical analyses generally found significant differences between study groups across the majority of test measures with better outcomes being reported by those who received a hearing dog. Effect sizes were reported to be small to medium.
Study results also suggested that the hearing dog program was cost effective when the expenses were covered the charity doing the study (Hearing Dogs for Deaf People), but not when the cost of providing the hearing dog was covered by the public health-care system (National Health Service).
Readers are referred to the full text of the article for additional details regarding this study
Reference
Stuttard L, Boyle P, Fairhurst C, Hewitt C, Longo, Walker S, et al. (2021) Hearing dogs for people with severe and profound hearing loss: a wait-list design randomised controlled trial investigating their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Trials 22:700.
Related Posts
Communication Sciences and Disorders Graduate Admissions Data
Watts and colleagues (2023) examined the relationship between sociodemographic factors and academic factors on an offer of admission to a graduate program in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Sociodemographic factors included age, disadvantaged socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, and the ability to speak more than one language at an advanced level. Academic factors included the…
Hearing Loss and Dementia in Older Adults
The relationship between hearing and cognition is a highly discussed and researched topic in the field of audiology. In a recent article in Canadian Audiologist (2023), Kathy Pichora-Fuller, PhD, reviews what we do and do not know about hearing and cognition as well as expected advances in research in 2023. She reminds readers that an…
Classification of Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness and Complex Cases
A recent study suggests that patients are more likely to develop persistent postural perceptual dizziness (PPPD) if they have a history of multiple episodic conditions such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular migraine (VM), or Meniere’s disease (MD) compared to those with a history of a single episodic condition. PPPD is a relatively new…