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44/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 44 out of 100. Getting a diagnosis

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

BackgroundCognitive impairment is common in older adults and negatively affects hearing aid use. Audiologists hold the opportunity to identify signs of undiagnosed cognitive impairment and tailor care to optimise hearing aid use.ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of introducing a brief cognitive assessment in hearing aid appointments for older adults.MethodsProspective feasibility cohort study incorporating quantitative and observational data. Participants were patients aged ≥65 years, new or existing hearing aid users, attending an NHS community hospital hearing aid clinic. Clinical audiologists were trained to conduct the Ascertain Dementia 8 (AD8) and visually-adapted shortened version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (mini-MoCA). A research audiologist took informed consent, observed appointments recording outcomes and followed up participants at 3 months. Feasibility was assessed using the following outcome measures: practicality of implementation in a clinical setting and resource requirements; acceptability in terms of recruitment/completion rates; onward care; experiences through standardised intensity scoring of observed emotions and analysis of free-text observations of participant reactions, participants' comments and informal conversations with clinical audiologists.ResultsTwenty patients were recruited, average age 78.6 years, 14 (70%) attended alone. All completed cognitive assessment, average duration was 14 minutes. AD8 and mini-MoCA average scores were 2.4 (range: 0-7) and 12.8 (range: 8-15), respectively. Ten (50%) participants had AD8 scores and one (5%) a Mini-MoCA score indicating potential cognitive impairment. Four of those (40%) contacted their GP, three were referred for further cognitive evaluation, one was diagnosed with dementia, two were awaiting appointments.ConclusionsIntroducing cognitive assessment in hearing aid clinics seems feasible and may provide an opportunity for identifying cognitive impairment in older adults, though further research is needed to establish its clinical utility and impact on care pathways. There are considerable resource implications, highlighting the importance of involving professional organisations, healthcare funders and policy makers early in this discussion.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Omar, R., Forbes, M., Vaid, D., Crawley, J. T. B., Clare, D., Costafreda, S. G., et al. (2025). Cognitive assessment in hearing aid clinics: Is it feasible to implement in a National Health Service (NHS) setting? Science Progress. https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504251335410

Vancouver

Omar R, Forbes M, Vaid D, Crawley JTB, Clare D, Costafreda SG, et al. Cognitive assessment in hearing aid clinics: Is it feasible to implement in a National Health Service (NHS) setting? Science Progress. 2025. doi:10.1177/00368504251335410. PMID: 40233135.

BibTeX

@article{omar2025-40233135,
  author  = {Omar, Rohani and Forbes, Marina and Vaid, Diya and Crawley, James T. B. and Clare, Dawn and Costafreda, Sergi G. and Schilder, Anne GM},
  title   = {{Cognitive assessment in hearing aid clinics: Is it feasible to implement in a National Health Service (NHS) setting?}},
  journal = {Science Progress},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1177/00368504251335410},
  pmid    = {40233135},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504251335410}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

Key findings

All completed cognitive assessment, average duration was 14 minutes.
AD8 and mini-MoCA average scores were 2.4 (range: 0-7) and 12.8 (range: 8-15), respectively.
Ten (50%) participants had AD8 scores and one (5%) a Mini-MoCA score indicating potential cognitive impairment.
Four of those (40%) contacted their GP, three were referred for further cognitive evaluation, one was diagnosed with dementia, two were awaiting appointments.ConclusionsIntroducing cognitive assessment in hearing aid clinics seems feasible and may provide an opportunity for identifying cognitive impairment in older adults, though further research is needed to establish its clinical utility and impact on care pathways.
There are considerable resource implications, highlighting the importance of involving professional organisations, healthcare funders and policy makers early in this discussion.

Why it matters

This feasibility study found that brief cognitive assessment can be implemented in hearing aid clinics, with some participants identified as having potential cognitive impairment and referred for further evaluation. It is about feasibility of screening in a clinical setting, not treatment, cure, or prevention.

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Study details

Study designcohort study
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 44/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Science Progress)
Journal's citation record	0 / 4	Science Progress: journal h-index 62 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	7 / 12	A cohort study following people over time
Strength of evidence	3 / 5	Rated “moderate” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	1 / 7	Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	1 / 6	Cited 0.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Anne GM Schilder: h-index 56 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University College London: institution h-index 2,029 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40233135)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	44 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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