The aim was to explore patients’
accounts with regard to their experience of taking part in a pilot study
evaluating the feasibility of conducting a #randomised controlled trial (RCT)
on the effect of #motivational interviewing (MI) on hearing-aid use. This was a qualitative sub-study embedded in a pilot RCT in NHS in which participants who reported using their hearing aid(s) less than four hours per day were
randomised to MI combined with audiology standard care (MISC) (n=20), and
standard care alone (SC) (n=17).
Five themes emerged in relation to the
participants’ perspectives about the key components of the research programme
which influenced their hearing aid use. The themes comprise: additional support, clinician effect, commitment to research, research process, and
feeling better about self. The provision of hearing aids in the #NHS may
benefit from adopting a more compassionate patient clinician relationship,
additional patient education, and post-hearing-aid-fitting support. Finally,
this study suggests that the general research participation effect seems to
have influenced the levels of #hearing-aid use in both groups. Strategies to
minimize the research participation effect need to be considered in the design
of the future full-scale trials.