The Practical Hearing Aids Skills Test—Revised

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to revise the Practical Hearing Aid Skills Test (PHAST; Desjardins & Doherty, 2009) for clinical use. The original PHAST 5-point rating scale was revised to a 3-point rating scale, and the battery and hearing aid cleaning skill tasks were revised to include additional actions necessary to perform these tasks. The revised version of the PHAST is referred to as the Practical Hearing Aid Skills Test-Revised (PHAST-R). The data obtained in the Desjardins and Doherty (2009) study with the original PHAST 5-point rating scale were re-analyzed in the present study using the PHAST-R 3-point rating scale. Also, the PHAST-R was piloted on 15 experienced hearing aid users in a clinical setting. The secondary data analysis of the original PHAST scores showed no significant difference between participants' percentage correct scores using the original PHAST 5-point rating scale and the PHAST-R 3-point rating scale. PHAST-R scores for the group of 15 experienced hearing aid users ranged from 61.29% to 100% (M = 88.48, SD = 12.6). Clinicians were able to use the PHAST-R to quickly and objectively identify hearing aid orientation problems for which clients needed counseling and reinstruction.