Does clinician continuity influence hearing aid outcomes?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE : To evaluate whether clinician continuity is associated with successful hearing aid outcomes. DESIGN : A prospective cohort study. Clinician continuity was defined as occurring when apatient was cared for by the same clinician for the hearing assessment, hearing aid selection process, hearing aid fitting and programming, and subsequent hearing aid fine tuning appointments. The hearing aid outcome measures included self-reported hearing aid use,benefit and satisfaction as well as self-reported handling skills and problems experienced with hearing aids. STUDY SAMPLE : Four hundred and sixty-eight adult hearing aid users (mean age 73.9 years ± 10.9) and 26 qualified audiologists (mean age 34 years ± 6.34) recruited from a single hearing clinic in Perth, Western Australia. RESULTS : There were no significant differences in hearing aid outcomes between participants who experienced clinician continuity and those who did not. CONCLUSIONS : Within a controlled practice setting, hearing aid outcomes may not be adversely effected if services are provided by more than one clinician.