JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There is scope to improve clinical care for people with hearing loss, empowering these consumers and supporting shared decision making and problem solving with their audiologists, by enabling individuals to collect their own hearing data in their personal real-world settings. Previous research has indicated clinician receptivity to this approach.

Objective:

To explore consumer perspectives regarding their listening difficulties and the potential of using a mobile app for documenting listening difficulties in real-world environments.

Methods:

Three focus groups involved 27 adults who self-reported hearing impairment. Most were fitted with hearing devices. A facilitator used a topic guide to generate discussion, which was video- and audio-recorded. Verbatim transcriptions were analysed using inductive content analysis.

Results:

Consumers supported the concept of a mobile app which would facilitate real-time self-assessment and tracking of listening difficulties in real-world situations. Consumers provided information about early or missed indicators of listening difficulties and prompts for seeking hearing device fitting, as well as descriptions of their listening difficulties, the factors which made listening difficult, and the impacts and consequences of their difficulties. Consumers desired a flexible, visual-based app that provided options for data collection and entry and that could be tailored for use in the listening situations important to the individual.

Conclusions:

These findings provide design directions for prototyping and piloting a mobile app to provide data that is useful for increasing both the user’s and their clinician’s understanding of the individual’s difficulties. Clinical Trial: n/a