NCT04382703

Brief Summary

Hearing aids are the number one treatment for hearing loss and it is estimated that out of the 2 million of UK individuals who are supplied with hearing aids 1.4 million will use their hearing aids to varying degrees and the other 0.6 million will stop using their hearing aids altogether. The proposed research is looking to improve hearing aid usage by using a self-affirmation intervention which lowers the threat of participants' ageing anxiety. The target of lowering participants' ageing anxiety to improve hearing aid use is because there is a stigma of hearing aids making people seem old and this stigma can make individuals resistant to wearing their hearing aids as they do not want to be seen in this light. The current proposed research is an extension of a pilot study that was conducted in 2016 which found that a self-affirmation intervention may be useful in improving individuals' hearing aid usage. They randomly allocated 50 first-time hearing aid users either to a group that undertook a self-affirming exercise (e.g., "If I feel threatened or anxious, then I will think about the things I value about myself") or to a no-intervention control group. Consistent with the idea that self-affirmation helps people deal with threat, first-time hearing aid users reported significantly lower anxieties about ageing after self-affirming. Moreover, according to the data usage downloaded from their hearing aids (data-logging), the self-affirming group were found to have worn their hearing aids an average of two hours per day longer than the control group. Due to the limited number of participants, the effects of the intervention were not statistically significant. Nevertheless, the low cost and high potential public health "reach" alongside the effect size of d = 0.43 indicates that the intervention shows promise. The main aim of this research is to re-test the self-affirmation intervention from the previous pilot study with a sufficiently large enough sample to answer the following "Does a self-affirmation intervention improve participant's hearing aid usage when compared to participants in the control group?

Trial Health

35
At Risk

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Trial has exceeded expected completion date
Enrollment
400

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Oct 2020

Typical duration for not_applicable

Status
unknown

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

May 4, 2020

Completed
7 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

May 11, 2020

Completed
5 months until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

October 5, 2020

Completed
1.2 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

December 20, 2021

Completed
9 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

September 26, 2022

Completed
Last Updated

September 16, 2020

Status Verified

May 1, 2020

Enrollment Period

1.2 years

First QC Date

May 4, 2020

Last Update Submit

September 14, 2020

Conditions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Hearing aid usage data from participants hearing aids

    The daily use of participants hearing aid use is pulled from their hearing aids data logging

    At the 10 weeks after baseline is taken

Secondary Outcomes (4)

  • Participants self-reported measure of hearing aid use.

    Baseline pre-intervention: 10 weeks after baseline: 34 weeks after baseline.

  • Participants Anxiety toward Aging

    Baseline pre-intervention: 10 weeks after baseline: 34 weeks after baseline.

  • Participants hearing loss/aid stigma.

    Baseline pre-intervention: 10 weeks after baseline: 34 weeks after baseline.

  • Participants perceived benefit / satisfaction participants have for their hearing aids

    Baseline pre-intervention: 10 weeks after baseline: 34 weeks after baseline.

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Given the associated questionnaire which has the embedded self-affirmation exercise.

Behavioral: Self-Affirmation Exercise

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Given the associated questionnaire without the embedded self-affirmation exercise.

Behavioral: Control

Interventions

The self affirming exercise is as follow: The beginning to a sentence appears below. Below it are 4 different ways of completing the sentence. On the lines provided, please write out the beginning of the sentence and then complete it with 1 of the 4 options we have given you. If I feel threatened or anxious, then I will ………………………………….. Options are as follows: think about the things I value about myself, remember things that I have succeeded in, think about what I stand for or think about things that are important to me

Intervention
ControlBEHAVIORAL

Given a questionnaire minus the self affirming exercise

Control

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Adults 18+ receiving hearing aids for the 1st time already have hearing aids fitted able to provide written consent and can complete the simple questionnaire

You may not qualify if:

  • Anyone younger than 18 anyone who does not wear a hearing aid anyone lacking in capacity to provide informed written consent.

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Related Publications (2)

  • Armitage CJ, Lees D, Lewis K, Munro KJ. Preliminary support for a brief psychological intervention to improve first-time hearing aid use among adults. Br J Health Psychol. 2017 Nov;22(4):686-700. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12244. Epub 2017 May 9.

    PMID: 28485483BACKGROUND
  • Overall, J. E., Tonidandel, S., & Starbuck, R. R. (2009). Last-observation-carried-forward (LOCF) and tests for difference in mean rates of change in controlled repeated measurements designs with dropouts. Social Science Research, 38(2), 492-503.

    BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Functional

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Hearing LossHearing DisordersEar DiseasesOtorhinolaryngologic DiseasesSensation DisordersNeurologic ManifestationsNervous System DiseasesSigns and SymptomsPathological Conditions, Signs and SymptomsBehavioral SymptomsBehavior

Study Officials

  • Kerry Ware

    The University of Manchester

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
DOUBLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
Masking Details
All postal questionnaires will be placed in opaque envelope and each envelope will be given a unique number, these unique numbers will be fed into a computerized list generator (www.random.org). The generated list will be used to put the questionnaires in batches for the audiologist to give to thier participants. The online version will automatically randomly assign participants to either the intervention or control.
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE CARE
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: Participants are randomly assigned to an intervention which is a questionnaire based with a self-affirmation embedded at the end of the questionnaire or they are assigned to a control group who undertake the same questionnaire minus the self-affirmation exercise.
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

May 4, 2020

First Posted

May 11, 2020

Study Start

October 5, 2020

Primary Completion

December 20, 2021

Study Completion

September 26, 2022

Last Updated

September 16, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-05

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share