JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

eHealth and social media could be of particular benefit to hearing impaired adults but little is known about their use of smart devices, apps and social media.

Objective:

To study if adults with normal hearing and those with impaired hearing differ in: weekly use of smart devices, apps and social media; reasons for using social media; and benefits from using social media.

Methods:

Data from a Dutch cohort, the National Longitudinal Study on Hearing (NL-SH), were used. Data were collected between 1 October 2016 and 1 April 2020, using an online questionnaire and hearing test. Normal hearing adults (N=341) and those with hearing impairment (N=384) were categorized based on the hearing test. Results were compared using (multiple) logistic regression models.

Results:

Hearing impaired adults did not differ from normal hearing adults in their use of a smartphone or tablet. They were less likely to make use of social media apps on a smartphone, tablet or smartwatch (age-adjusted OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.48 - 0.92, P=.015) but not less likely to use social media on all types of devices (age-adjusted OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.57 - 1.41, P =.65). Use of other apps did not differ. Hearing impaired adults were more likely to use social media to stay in touch with family members (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.16 - 2.07, P =.003) and with friends (age-adjusted OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.01 - 1.81, P=.046). Furthermore, they were more likely to use social media to perform their work (age-adjusted OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.04 - 2.18, P=.029). There were no differences in experienced benefits from social media.

Conclusions:

The potential for eHealth is confirmed as hearing impaired adults are not less likely to use smart devices than their normal hearing peers. Nevertheless, a substantial number of elderly people accesses the internet by other means. To ensure equal access to digital hearing healthcare it has to be available on other devices as well. Hearing impaired adults are less likely to make use of social media apps on a smart device but not less likely to use social media on all types of internet-connected devices. This warrants further research of the types of social media platforms hearing impaired adults use and on which device they prefer to use them. Hearing impaired adults used social media to greater degree to stay in touch with family members and friends, but this did not result in closer/more intense family ties or friendships. Given that hearing impaired participants are more likely than their normal hearing peers to use social media to perform their work, further work could be done on vocational rehabilitation services using social media. Clinical Trial: toetsingonline.nl NL12015.029.06.