(Re)habilitation and Counseling (C)
Marissa Merrifield
AuD/PhD Student
Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Disclosure(s): No financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Kristen Kennedy, AuD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Teaching Professor/Audiologist
Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York
Disclosure(s): No financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Tammy M. Kordas, AuD
Associate Teaching Professor/Audiologist
Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York
Disclosure(s): No financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Karen Doherty, PhD
Professor and Chair
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York
Disclosure(s): No financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Introduction
The Practical Hearing Skills Test-revised (PHAST-R) is used to measure a hearing aid user’s ability to perform basic hearing aid use and care functions (Desjardins & Doherty, 2009). In 2022, the test was updated (PHAST-R v2) to include advancements in hearing aid technology. Results from the PHAST-R v2 can be used by audiologists to quickly identify the hearing aid task(s) a hearing aid user needs further counseling on.
Rationale
Individuals who have difficulty managing and manipulating their hearing aids have been shown to perceive less hearing aid benefit and report lower hearing aid use (Humes et al. 2009). Thus, it’s critical to identify if a client has trouble using and/or caring for their hearing aids. Audiologists can use the Practical Hearing Skills Test-Revised (PHAST-R) to measure a hearing aid user’s ability to perform basic hearing aid use and care functions (Desjardins & Doherty, 2009). This test was recently updated (PHAST-R v2) to include more advanced hearing aid technology. The purpose of this study was to use the PHAST-R v2 to identify the specific hearing aid functions clients have difficulty performing and need further counseling on. Second, the consistency between how audiologists judged hearing aid users’ performance on the PHAST-R hearing aid tasks was assessed.
Design
Participants were twenty patients fit with new hearing aids. Although the hearing aids were new to all the patients, some of the patients had previous hearing aid experience. They were administered the PHAST-Rv2 by two audiologists at a two-week follow-up appointment. The updated PHAST-R v2 includes advancements in technology such as rechargeable hearing aids, Bluetooth connectivity, wax guards, and cell phone streaming. A computerized administration and scoring software was developed specifically for the PHAST-R v2.
The PHAST-R v2 was administered and scored by the primary audiologist working with the patient. It was also scored by a second audiologist who observed the patient performing the test. The primary audiologist re-counseled the patient on any tasks that were incorrectly performed.
Results
Preliminary findings show that all patients required re-counseling on at least one hearing aid task. Cleaning and adjusting the hearing aids in a noisy environment were the most difficult to perform. The impact of factors such as age and previous hearing aid experience on hearing aid user’s ability to perform these tasks will be reported. Differences observed in how audiologists judged some tasks and made decisions regarding re-counseling will also be discussed.
Conclusions
The PHAST-Rv2 is an effective tool to identify hearing aid skills patients need re-counseling on. Some hearing aid tasks were consistently more difficult to perform than others. There were differences observed between how audiologists judged the patients' performance on some of the hearing aid tasks.