Part II: Evaluation of professional functioning 79 Mean (sd) Range No. (%) Other 3 (5.0%) Number of working hours 30.7 (8.1) 8 - 45 Hearing aids, yes 37 (61.7%) Binaural hearing impairment 42.8 (19.9) 5.6 – 88.6 Auditory work demands a 29.7 (7.0) 16 – 45 SSQb Speech 5.5 (1.7) 1.0 – 9.1 Spatial 4.5 (2.1) 0.0 – 10.0 Quality 6.6 (1.9) 1.75 – 10.0 Need for recoveryc 50.1 (21.8) 0 – 100 Subjective listening effortd 10.0 (3.4) 2 – 18 Feeling something should change, yes 21 (35.0%) Personal adjustmentse 51.6 (12.9) 21 – 77 Communication strategiesf 68.5 (9.0) 45 - 86 Self-acceptance mean item score 3.7 (1.0) 1.3 – 5.0 Acceptance of loss mean item score 3.2 (0.9) 1.3 – 5.0 Stress and withdrawal mean item score 3.0 (0.9) 1.1 – 4.9 SSQ indicates Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of hearing scale. a Higher score indicates higher auditory work demands. b Higher score on the SSQ indicates greater self-reported hearing ability. c Higher score indicates higher level of need for recovery. d Higher score indicates higher level of subjective listening effort. e Higher score indicates more adequate personal adjustments. f Higher score indicates more adequate communication strategies. Aural rehabilitation All patients received individually tailored aural rehabilitation. Sensory management interventions could include the provision and fitting of hearing aids and other assistive listening devices, such as table microphones. We distinguished the provision and fitting of hearing aids in patients who did not use hearing aids at T0 (First HA), patients who used one hearing aid at T0 and received a second hearing aid (bilateral fitting), patients who used hearing aids at T0 and received new hearing aids (repeated fitting), and patients who used hearing aids at T0 of which the settings were optimized (fine tuning HA). Sensory management interventions were provided by or under supervision of an audiologist. Perceptual training could involve a speech reading training. This training could be provided individually or the patient could be referred for a group training. Perceptual training was provided by a speech therapist and a social worker.
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