Hearing Aid Delay Effects on Neural Phase Locking.

The study measured brain responses to one repeated /da/ syllable averaged over many trials, not everyday speech or listening situations. It did not measure speech-in-noise performance, sound quality ratings, listening effort, hearing aid satisfaction, or whether patients would keep using the aids. The sample was small and narrow: 21 older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, all fitted with open domes, so results may not apply to people with more severe hearing loss or closed fittings. The hearing aids came from three manufacturers with different default settings, so the delay time was not tested in complete isolation from other algorithm differences. The 5-msec and 7-msec delays did not differ significantly, but the authors noted the 5-msec result may have been affected by the 100-Hz test frequency, because 5 msec is half the period of 100 Hz. The link between better neural timing and better speech-in-noise performance was based on past studies, not on outcomes measured here.

The paper states that the authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. It does not report a funding source.

Do not conclude that a 0.5-msec delay hearing aid will help patients understand speech in noise or keep using their hearing aids. This study measured brain responses to one repeated /da/ syllable, not speech-in-noise performance, sound quality ratings, or hearing aid use.