Preminger 2010.
| Methods | Randomised BUT was made on basis of preference regarding class time so 'quasi‐randomised' | |
| Participants | N = 36 Age range: no range given but average Cx 72.2, Tx 63.5 – significant difference Inclusion criteria: all PHL had to score over 20 on HHIE, scores below 25 on QuickSIN so they would have no problems communicating in group class, SO had to have PTA over 30 dB HL (near normal hearing at least) |
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| Interventions | AR group programme just for people with hearing loss (spouses no treatment) versus AR group programme plus separate group programme for spouses 90‐minute sessions 1 x weekly for 4 weeks (no specific homework) |
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| Outcomes | Short‐term: 4 weeks ‐ HHIE (HEARING HANDICAP), perceived stress scale and affect rating scale (PSYCHOLOGICAL), primary communication inventory (COMMUNICATION) Medium‐term: 6 months ‐ as above |
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| Notes | — | |
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | High risk | Quote: "Couples were assigned to either the control or the experimental AR sessions based on the couples' preferred class meeting times. Participants were only given class meeting times and no information about the class content (control versus experimental); in this way they could not choose to be in either the control group or the experimental group." Comment: quasi‐randomised |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | High risk | No information re sequence generation but researchers presumably knew which class was which and therefore which participants were choosing |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes | High risk | Participants were not blinded due to the nature of the intervention |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes | High risk | No apparent blinding of outcome assessment |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Low risk | No apparent dropouts or missing data |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Unclear risk | No protocol available |
| Other bias | Unclear risk | Participants were a mix of CI and HA patients Also age difference in groups and in mood scores pre‐intervention Scales all completed in presence of a researcher "to answer questions and make sure they were filled out correctly" |