Healthy Athletes Update

Healthy Hearing volunteer Ben Kirby screens Special Olympics Athlete Bill Lutz from Idaho.

Free Hearing Aids Impact Athletes Long after Closing Ceremonies: Follow-up Study Shows Healthy Hearing Success

Bill Lutz, a 59-year-old Special Olympics golfer from Idaho, is reminded every day of his visit to Healthy Athletes several months ago – he can hear. At the Healthy Hearing venue in Boise during the World Winter Games in February, Lutz received new hearing aids to replace the ones he had, which were more than 15 years old and left him with no hearing in one ear and very limited hearing in the other. Since then, the new devices have greatly improved his quality of life.

“The hearing aids are helping a lot,” said Tom Stephenson, Lutz’s cousin and caregiver for the past 12 years. “It’s easier for me to communicate with him. That has been a big benefit.”

Lutz’s story is not unique. A follow-up study conducted by Dr. Ruth Bentler, Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, on athletes who received hearing aids at the Boise games found that 76.3% are wearing the devices successfully, a percentage that roughly matches hearing aid use in the general population. “Only about 20% of persons with hearing loss seek hearing aids in the United States. Of those who do, 10-20% end up not using their newly purchase hearing aids. From that standpoint, our numbers are in pretty good agreement. We are happy to see this degree of success!” Dr. Bentler said.

The percentage of Special Olympics athletes who benefit from their hearing aids is especially good news considering the relative lack of resources people with intellectual disabilities often have for follow-up visits and device replacement and servicing, according to Dr. Gil Herer, Founder and Global Clinical Advisor for Healthy Hearing. “It is remarkable to have this high of a use rate,” he said.

Internationally, the resources available for people with intellectual disabilities who have hearing loss vary significantly. “Typically, these athletes from around the world are not in traditional family environments, so there may not be a parent to help them look after their hearing aids,” Dr. Bentler said. “Additionally, many of these athletes are from parts of the world where hearing aid provision is uncommon, resulting in few resources for them and their caretakers to turn to with questions and/or problems.” Despite these common obstacles, the athletes who are now successfully using their new hearing aids come from countries around the globe such as El Salvador, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Yemen and others.

A total of 100 hearing aids were fitted on 61 athletes during the World Winter Games. To date, follow up contact has been made with 38 athletes (62.3%) Of those, 29 were using their new devices. Nine athletes reported that they were not using their hearing aids for a variety of reasons, including simply not liking the hearing aids, having some medical reason such as an ear infection, or another reason -- one athlete’s devices were broken by a roommate.

Additional Follow-up

Dr. Bentler is currently planning a phase two of her follow-up efforts. This phase will consist of a formal seven-item survey to be administered to all athletes. As with most surveys, one challenge has been reaching as many respondents as possible. Often, contact information for the athletes were missing or incomplete. The international nature of the work was also made it challenging. Phase One of the follow-up work required 16 translators speaking 13 different languages. The same challenges will make Phase Two difficult, but Dr. Bentler is optimistic that it can be completed within the year.

The inventory will give additional insight into the extent Healthy Hearing was able to impact the lives of athletes with hearing aids. “If we were really able to train them in our short training period following the fitting as to proper insertion and removal, as well as care and battery usage, our efforts were worthwhile,” she said.