Objectives: The objective was to develop the Audiological Disabilities Preference Index (ADPI), a measure to determine health state preferences associated with audiological disabilities. The ADPI consists of a hearing-related health state description, hearing-related health state valuation, and transformation of the latter to the overall health scale. Research questions were: a) to determine the feasibility of ADPI in an older hearing-impaired population; b) to assess gain in health state preference after hearing aid fitting; c) to evaluate the reliability of ADPI using hypothetical health states; and d) to compare the results of ADPI with the EuroQol.

Methods: The ADPI, the marker states, and the EuroQol were administered to 78 first-time hearing aid users before and 12 and 25 weeks after hearing aid fitting.

Results: The ADPI was feasible in an older hearing-impaired population (mean age, 69.1 years). After hearing aid fitting, all dimensions of audiological disability improved (p < .001). Change in hearing-specific health state and the latter framed in overall health were 0.27 and 0.12, respectively (p < .001). The mean values of the marker states were stable, but the intraclass correlation coefficients were low. Correlations between ADPI and hearing loss and the EuroQol, respectively, were low, while moderate with hearing aid satisfaction. There was a slight change on the EuroQol visual analog scale, with only an improvement in the feeling dimension (p < .05).

Conclusions: The ADPI provides a practical and useful method to assess hearing-related health state preferences needed for clinical decision making and cost-effectiveness analysis.