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. 2020 Mar 3:8:2050312120904572.
doi: 10.1177/2050312120904572. eCollection 2020.

Experiences of hearing aid use among patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease dementia: A qualitative study

Sarah Gregory  1 , Jo Billings  2 , Danielle Wilson  3 , Gill Livingston  2 , Anne Gm Schilder  4 , Sergi G Costafreda  2
Affiliations

Experiences of hearing aid use among patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease dementia: A qualitative study

Sarah Gregory et al. SAGE Open Med. .

Abstract

Objectives: Hearing aid usage supports communication and independence; however, many do not use their hearing aids. This study explored the experiences of hearing aid use in adults with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: Participants completed semi-structured interviews which were analysed using thematic analysis. Ten people (six males, age range 75-86 years old) with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease who had been fitted with hearing aids were recruited to the study.

Results: We identified four major themes: (1) memory and other cognitive barriers to using hearing aids, (2) practical aspects of hearing aids, (3) benefits of hearing aids, and (4) ambivalence towards hearing aids.

Conclusions: Participants perceived a significant impact of cognitive impairment on the experience of using hearing aids. This population may benefit from targeted strategies to support use of hearing aids. The findings from this study can inform future research to optimise use of hearing aids in this population.

Keywords: Aging; cognitive impairment; hearing aids; qualitative.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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