Robyn M. Cox|Jani A. Johnson|Jingjing Xu
Impact of Advanced Hearing Aid Technology on Speech Understanding for Older Listeners with Mild to Moderate, Adult-Onset, Sensorineural Hearing Loss
hearing loss one common chronic health conditions older people hearing aids customary treatment improve quality life older adults even relatively older adults uncomplicated mild moderate adultonset sensorineural hearing loss use hearing aids one reason belief hearing aids provide sufficient value justify expense although modern hearing aids available several price points minimal evidence relative benefits premiumlevel versus basiclevel hearing aid technologiesthis research designed demonstrate relative effectiveness premium hearing aids compared basic hearing aids improving speech understanding quality life25 participants including new experienced hearing aid users completed blinded monthlong field trials four pairs hearing aids two basic two premium level outcomes laboratory speech understanding tests standardized questionnaires openended diary itemsparticipants reacted positively hearing aids everyday speech understanding quality life substantially improved hearing aids results new experienced users consistent conclusion statistically significant clinically important differences improvement premium basiclevel hearing aidsit assumed costly hearing aids always produce better outcomes contemporary hearing aids two major manufacturers subjects obtained much improvement speech understanding quality life lowercost basiclevel instruments highercost premiumlevel instruments regardless technology level comprehensive bestpractice fitting protocols followed optimize results every patient