Faculty Padre Ossó (Asociated Center of the University of Oviedo), Degree in Occupational Therapy, University of Oviedo, 33008 Oviedo, Spain.
Institute for Community Inclusion (INICO), University of Salamanca, 37005 Salamanca, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 7;18(14):7259. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147259.
Deaf and hard of hearing people use a variety of assistive devices and technologies as a strategy to mitigate, counter or compensate for life difficulties resulting from hearing loss. Although outcome measures are commonly used with hearing aids, few studies have explored the perceived psychosocial impact of other assistive devices and technologies or the factors leading to their abandonment or lack of use. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to assess the psychosocial impact of different assistive devices on deaf and hard of hearing people using the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale. The sample was made up of 291 individuals, 176 women and 115 men, with an average age of 56.12 years (standard deviation (SD) = 25.11), who were all users of different assistive devices. Overall, the results of the study showed that the use of assistive devices had a positive psychosocial impact, although this impact varied slightly depending on the specific type of device. Moreover, a relationship was identified between the psychosocial impact and the probability of future abandonment of a hearing aid or a cochlear implant. The results point to the importance of considering the psychosocial impact derived from the use of a device as a relevant variable in the adoption process of assistive technologies for deaf and hard of hearing people.
聋人和重听人士使用各种辅助器具和技术，作为减轻、对抗或补偿因听力损失而导致的生活困难的策略。尽管助听设备通常使用结果测量方法，但很少有研究探讨其他辅助器具和技术的感知心理社会影响，或导致其被放弃或未被使用的因素。因此，本研究的主要目的是使用助听设备心理社会影响量表评估不同辅助器具对聋人和重听人士的心理社会影响。该样本由 291 名个体组成，其中 176 名女性和 115 名男性，平均年龄为 56.12 岁（标准差 (SD) = 25.11），均为不同辅助器具的使用者。总的来说，研究结果表明，辅助器具的使用具有积极的心理社会影响，尽管这种影响因特定类型的设备而略有不同。此外，还确定了心理社会影响与助听器或人工耳蜗未来被放弃的概率之间的关系。研究结果表明，考虑到使用设备带来的心理社会影响作为聋人和重听人士采用辅助技术过程中的一个相关变量非常重要。
