Challenges and opportunities in direct-to-consumer hearing healthcare service delivery: a scoping review.

Despite the rising prevalence of hearing loss worldwide, underutilization of hearing aids persists. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) hearing services have emerged as a potential solution to address barriers in conventional audiology services. This scoping review investigates the challenges and opportunities associated with direct-to-consumer service delivery in audiology.

Effects of hearing intervention on falls in older adults: findings from a secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE randomised controlled trial.

Background: Hearing loss is highly prevalent among older adults and has been associated with an increased likelihood of falling. We aimed to examine the effect of a hearing intervention on falls over 3 years among older adults in a secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE study.

Methods: The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study was a 3-year, unmasked, randomised controlled trial of adults aged 70-84 years at enrolment with untreated hearing loss and without substantial cognitive impairment.

Cognitive benefits of hearing intervention vary by risk of cognitive decline: A secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE trial.

Introduction: Results from the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) trial suggest hearing intervention may not reduce 3-year cognitive decline in all older adults with hearing loss but may be beneficial in certain groups. This secondary analysis investigated if participants with multiple risk factors for cognitive decline received greater benefits.

Methods: We used a sample of dementia-free participants (N = 2692) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort to develop a predictive model for cognitive decline.

Hearing Intervention, Social Isolation, and Loneliness: A Secondary Analysis of the ACHIEVE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Promoting social connection among older adults is a public health priority. Addressing hearing loss may reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults.

Objective: To describe the effect of a best-practice hearing intervention vs health education control on social isolation and loneliness over a 3-year period in the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study.

Effects of Hearing Intervention on Physical Activity Measured by Accelerometry: A Secondary Analysis of the ACHIEVE Study.

Background: Hearing loss is prevalent in older adults and is associated with reduced daily physical activity, but whether hearing intervention attenuates declines in physical activity is unknown. We investigated the 3-year effect of a hearing intervention versus a health education control on accelerometer-measured physical activity in older adults with hearing loss.

Methods: This secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE randomized controlled trial included 977 adults aged 70-84 years with hearing loss.

Impact of a Hearing Intervention on the Levels of Leisure-Time Physical Activity and T.V. Viewing in Older Adults: Results from a Secondary Analysis of the ACHIEVE Study.

Background: Age-related hearing loss is common among older adults and may influence physical activity and sedentary behaviors, such as TV viewing. This study examined whether a hearing intervention could affect these behaviors over 3 years.

Methods: A total of 977 participants (mean age of 76.

A Hearing Intervention and Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults: A Secondary Analysis of the ACHIEVE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Health-related quality of life is a critical health outcome and a clinically important patient-reported outcome in clinical trials. Hearing loss is associated with poorer health-related quality-of-life in older adults.

Objective: To investigate the 3-year outcomes of hearing intervention vs health education control on health-related quality of life.

Effect of hearing intervention on communicative function: A secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE randomized controlled trial.

Background: The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) Study was designed to determine the effects of a best-practice hearing intervention on cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults. Here, we conducted a secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE Study to investigate the effect of hearing intervention on self-reported communicative function.

Methods: The ACHIEVE Study is a parallel-group, unmasked, randomized controlled trial of adults aged 70-84 years with untreated mild-to-moderate hearing loss and without substantial cognitive impairment.

Effect of Hearing Intervention Versus Health Education Control on Fatigue: A Secondary Analysis of the ACHIEVE Study.

Background: Fatigue is a common complaint among older adults with hearing loss. The impact of addressing hearing loss on fatigue symptoms has not been studied in a randomized controlled trial. In a secondary analysis of the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study, we investigated the effect of hearing intervention versus health education control on 3-year change in fatigue in community-dwelling older adults with hearing loss.

Adult-onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia - A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Background: We comprehensively summarized the cohort evidence to date on adult-onset hearing loss as risk factor for incident cognitive impairment and dementia, and examined the evidence for dose-response, risk for various dementia subtypes, and other moderators. Previous meta-analyses were less comprehensive.

Methods: We included cohort studies with participants without dementia and with hearing assessments at baseline, minimum 2 years follow-up and incident cognitive outcomes.

Hearing Impairment and Physical Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults: Baseline Results From the ACHIEVE Trial.

Background: Hearing loss is associated with restricted physical activity (PA) and impaired physical functioning, yet the relationship between severity of hearing impairment (HI) and novel PA measures in older adults with untreated HI is not well understood.

Methods: Analyses included 845 participants aged ≥70 years (mean = 76.6 years) with a better-hearing ear pure-tone average (PTA) ≥30 and <70 dB in the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study who wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 7 days.

Recruitment and baseline data of the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study: A randomized trial of a hearing loss intervention for reducing cognitive decline.

Introduction: Hearing loss is highly prevalent among older adults and independently associated with cognitive decline. The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study is a multicenter randomized control trial (partially nested within the infrastructure of an observational cohort study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities [ARIC] study) to determine the efficacy of best-practice hearing treatment to reduce cognitive decline over 3 years. The goal of this paper is to describe the recruitment process and baseline results.

Description of the Baseline Audiologic Characteristics of the Participants Enrolled in the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders Study.

Purpose: The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study is a randomized clinical trial designed to determine the effects of a best-practice hearing intervention versus a successful aging health education control intervention on cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults with untreated mild-to-moderate hearing loss. We describe the baseline audiologic characteristics of the ACHIEVE participants.

Method: Participants aged 70-84 years ( = 977; = 76.

Loneliness and Social Network Characteristics Among Older Adults With Hearing Loss in the ACHIEVE Study.

Background: Hearing loss is linked to loneliness and social isolation, but evidence is typically based on self-reported hearing. This study quantifies the associations of objective and subjective hearing loss with loneliness and social network characteristics among older adults with untreated hearing loss.

Methods: This study uses baseline data (N = 933) from the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study.

Development and Critical Evaluation of a Condition-Specific Preference-Based Measure Sensitive to Binaural Hearing in Adults: The York Binaural Hearing-Related Quality-of-Life System.

Objectives: The widely-used generic preference-based measures of health-related quality of life-the EuroQol Descriptive System (EQ-5D) and the Health Utilities Index (HUI3)-are limited in their response to technologies that improve hearing. The EQ-5D lacks construct validity for hearing, while the HUI3 is restricted by a ceiling effect and by using speech reception as the only evidence of the ability to hear. Consequently, neither measure consistently registers benefits from binaural hearing, such as those from bilateral versus unilateral cochlear implantation.

Association of Hearing Loss with Physical, Social, and Mental Activity Engagement.

This article aims to evaluate a hearing loss intervention versus an aging education intervention on activity engagement in the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders pilot (ACHIEVE-P). Forty adults (70-84 years) with hearing loss recruited from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study and de novo participated. Participants were randomized 1:1 to a best practices hearing intervention or a successful aging intervention.

Prevalence of Asymmetric Hearing Among Adults in the United States.

Objective: To estimate the national prevalence of asymmetric hearing among adults through applying two distinct audiometric criteria.

Study Design: National cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Ambulatory examination centers within the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Long-term Impact of Hearing Aid Provision or Cochlear Implantation on Hearing Handicap.

Objectives/hypothesis: Previous research has shown hearing handicap to be reduced following hearing aid use or cochlear implantation in short-to-medium follow-up periods, yet the impact of interventions for hearing loss on hearing handicap in the long term remains understudied. This article reports hearing handicap at 6 months, 12 months, and 5 years after either hearing aid provision or cochlear implantation.

Study Design: Observational study.

Prevalence and Population Estimates of Obstructive Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in US Adolescents.

This cross-sectional cohort study uses census data to approximate population estimates of obstructive eustachian tube dysfunction among US adolescents.

Variations in Prevalence and Number of Older Adults With Self-reported Hearing Trouble by Audiometric Hearing Loss and Sociodemographic Characteristics.

This cross-sectional study evaluates 2613 participants 60 years or older in the NHANES study (2001-2012) for variations in self-reported hearing trouble by audiometric hearing loss and sociodemographic characteristics.