Stages of Change Profiles among Adults Experiencing Hearing Difficulties Who Have Not Taken Any Action: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vinaya Manchaiah; Jerker Rönnberg; Gerhard Andersson; Thomas Lunner

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129107

Stages of Change Profiles among Adults Experiencing Hearing Difficulties Who Have Not Taken Any Action: A Cross-Sectional Study

PLoS One. 2015 Jun 4;10(6):e0129107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129107. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Vinaya Manchaiah¹, Jerker Rönnberg², Gerhard Andersson³, Thomas Lunner⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, United States of America; Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Audiology India, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
² Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
³ Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, 20 Rørtangvej, Snekkersten, Denmark.

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that adults experiencing hearing difficulties who are aware of their difficulties but have not taken any action would fall under contemplation and preparation stages based on the transtheoretical stages-of-change model. The study employed a cross-sectional design. The study was conducted in United Kingdom and 90 participants completed University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) scale as well as measures of self-reported hearing disability, self-reported anxiety and depression, self-reported hearing disability acceptance, and provided additional demographic details online. As predicted, the results indicate that a high percentage of participants (over 90%) were in the contemplation and preparation stages. No statistically significant differences were observed among groups of stage with highest URICA scores and factors such as: years since hearing disability, self-reported hearing disability, self-reported anxiety and depression, and self-reported hearing disability acceptance. Cluster analysis identified three stages-of-change clusters, which were named as: decision making (53% of sample), participation (28% of sample), and disinterest (19% of sample). Study results support the stages-of-change model. In addition, implications of the current study and areas for future research are discussed.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Decision Making
Female
Hearing Loss / epidemiology*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Self Report
United Kingdom / epidemiology

Grants and funding

This study was partly funded by the grants from Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research 2009-0055 and Swedish Research Council 2007-8654. Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, provided support in the form of a salary for author TL, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decisions to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific role of the authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.