Factors that influence intent to adopt a hearing aid among older people in Italy Nicola Cobelli PhD 1 , Liz Gill Dip PT BSc PT MBA MA PhD 2 , Fabio Cassia PhD 1 and Marta Ugolini PhD 1 1 Department of Business Administration, The University of Verona, Verona, Italy and 2 Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Northern Clinical School, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, Ryde, New South Wales, Australia Accepted for publication 10 June 2014 Correspondence Nicola Cobelli Department of Business Administration The University of Verona Via dell’Artigliere, 19, 37129 Verona, Italy E-mail: nicola.cobelli@univr.it What is known about this topic • Despite the efficacy of hearing aids, their adoption is low in comparison with the increasing incidence of hearing loss in the ageing population. • Little is known about the factors that directly influence a person’s decision to adopt a hearing aid. • There is inadequate support and rehabilitation for people with hearing loss, from diagnosis to being fully competent in the use of an aid. What this paper adds • Attitude towards the adoption of a hearing aid, subjective norms and trust in the health professional influence hearing aid adoption. • Perceived subjective norms (the person’s perception that people important to them think that they should not adopt a hearing aid) are negatively related to their intention to adopt a hearing aid. • A high level of trust in the health professional is able to counteract the negative effect of subjective norms. Abstract Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent health impairments associated with ageing in developed countries, and it can result in social, emotional and communication dysfunction. Hearing loss in Italy is increasing, yet, despite the availability of free hearing aids and access to qualified community-based health professionals specialising in audiology services, their uptake remains low (about 15%–20%). This paper presents an investigation of the possible reasons why older people in Italy resist adopting a hearing aid. We used the literature to identify factors influencing people with hearing loss’s decision-making, and drew on the theory of reasoned action to create an explanatory model. To test our hypotheses, we applied a cross-sectional design. We developed a questionnaire including 13 items related to adopting a hearing aid. Health professionals identified 400 persons aged 60–90 who were candidates for a free hearing aid. Those willing to participate were sent a copy of the questionnaire and telephoned between August and September 2009; a total of 243 responded (response rate of 60.8%). Linear regression analysis highlighted that a person’s intention to adopt a hearing aid was positively related to their attitude towards its adoption, but negatively linked to their perceived subjective norms. It was found that trust in the health professional does not moderate the relationship between a person’s attitude and their intention to adopt a hearing aid, but trust mitigates the relationship between a person’s perceived subjective norms and their intentions. These findings underline the importance of the potential role that the healthcare professional could play in reducing the uncertainty created by external social pressures. For this purpose, stronger collaboration between the various health professionals involved in hearing aid provision, from diagnosis to fitting, is recommended. Keywords: behavioural intention, hearing aid adoption, hearing rehabilita- tion, older people, theory of reasoned action, trust © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 612 Health and Social Care in the Community (2014) 22(6), 612–622 doi: 10.1111/hsc.12127