ArticleBMC health services research2026
Development and preliminary evaluation of a German questionnaire assessing attitudes toward hearing aids and behavioral intention.
Article in BMC health services research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHearing aid uptake remains suboptimal despite well-established clinical benefits, suggesting that psychosocial factors influence hearing rehabilitation decisions. This study aimed to develop and perform a preliminary psychometric evaluation of a German-language questionnaire assessing attitudes toward hearing aids and behavioral intention toward hearing aid use.
methodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among German-speaking adults with and without self-reported hearing loss. An existing English-language questionnaire was substantially adapted for the German healthcare system through expert review, psychometric evaluation, and pilot revision before final administration. Preliminary psychometric evaluation included assessment of internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis. Associations between attitudes, behavioral intention, and hearing aid use were examined using correlation and regression analyses.
resultsThe overall attitude scale demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.77), whereas the behavioral intention scale demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.86). Exploratory factor analysis supported a four-factor structure, although several items demonstrated cross-loadings, suggesting that further refinement of the questionnaire is warranted. The study included 159 adults (18-96 years), of whom 48.4% reported hearing loss. General attitude was strongly associated with behavioral intention (r = 0.63, p < 0.001) and explained approximately 40% of its variance (R² = 0.40). Among attitudinal domains, expected benefit and effort (r = 0.66) and stigma (r = 0.65) showed the strongest associations with behavioral intention. Participants with hearing loss who used hearing aids demonstrated significantly more favorable attitudes and stronger behavioral intention than non-users (both p < 0.001).
conclusionsThis study describes the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of a German-language questionnaire assessing attitudes toward hearing aids and behavioral intention. The findings provide preliminary evidence supporting the questionnaire's reliability and structural validity while highlighting the need for further psychometric validation in independent populations. Stigma-related beliefs and expectations regarding hearing aid benefit emerged as the attitudinal domains most strongly associated with behavioral intention and may represent important targets for interventions to improve hearing aid uptake.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.