Measuring cognitive anxiety through the consultation process for hearing aids: Older adults and their significant others

• Cognitive anxiety levels of adults with hearing impairment changed through the consultation process.
• Cognitive anxiety levels of significant others changed through the consultation process.
• The inclusion of significant others is important in the rehabilitation process.

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of cognitive anxiety experienced by first-time hearing aid adopters and their significant others before, during, and after hearing aid fitting. A total of 16 couples were interviewed at three points: (1) at the initial consultation for hearing aids, (2) during the hearing aid trial, and (3) 1 month following the final clinical appointment in which the hearing aids were formally adopted. Cognitive anxiety was assessed through a content analysis of the interviews using the Cognitive Anxiety Scale. Results of this study show that the levels of cognitive anxiety generally decreased across the entire consultation process for both adults with hearing impairment and their significant others. The results also indicated that couples generally experienced similar levels of cognitive anxiety at initial consultation, but their levels of cognitive anxiety differed throughout the remainder of the study. These findings highlight the importance of inclusion of significant others in the rehabilitation process.Learning outcomes: The reader will be able to: (1) discuss the relationship between cognitive anxiety and hearing impairment, (2) define cognitive anxiety, (3) discuss the impact of hearing impairment on significant others, (4) describe the experience of cognitive anxiety through the hearing aid consultation process.