Be Part of the Conversation: Audiology Messaging During a Hearing Screening

OBJECTIVES: The moment patients learn the results from a hearing assessment can be a critical juncture on their journey to rehabilitation. Message framing (e.g., the positive or negative manner in which information is presented) has been explored in a wide range of health contexts as a method for shaping patients’ decision-making. This study investigated whether attitudes toward hearing loss treatment varied as a function of how messages about treatment were framed, and whether such attitudes differed as a function of participants being led to believe they had failed a hearing screening. METHODS: Sixty-four participants (18 to 39 years of age) took the Hearing in Noise Test. In the sound booth, participants saw a poster bearing either a gain-framed or loss-framed message about hearing loss treatment. During the test, half the participants were interrupted by the researcher who stated that their performance appeared to suggest a hearing loss, with the caveat that it might be due to an equipment malfunction. While the researcher investigated the problem, the participants completed an 11-item questionnaire asking about their attitudes toward help seeking for hearing loss. Participants in the control group completed the same questionnaire with no interruption. RESULTS: Statistical analyses revealed no significant interaction effect between message type and experimenter feedback condition, though a significant main effect was present for message type. Post hoc testing showed medium to large effect sizes as a function of message type on five of the 11-questionnaire items. These data indicated that participants were more likely to endorse health-positive responses (i.e., greater interest in hearing treatment) when exposed to the gain-framed message than the loss-framed message. CONCLUSIONS: The greater likelihood of health-positive responses in the presence of the gain-framed message suggests that this framing strategy may have a positive influence on attitudes toward hearing health behaviors among individuals under 40 years of age with no history of hearing loss.