Hearing performance of individuals with minimal hearing loss in complex and realistic communication experiences.
Luana Rodrigues do Carmo, Raquel Elpidio Pinheiro da Silva, Cláudia Daniele Pelanda Zampronio and 2 others
PMID 37729342WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with minimal hearing loss reported significant difficulty in noisy environments and high expectations for hearing aids.
Older participants held higher expectations for positive effects. The study was too small to confirm if age or hearing loss severity drives these struggles.
Key findings
01Participants reported greater difficulty in complex listening situations involving speech-in-noise and listening effort, while performing better on tasks involving sound location and quality.
02There was a statistically significant moderate negative correlation between age and the expectation that hearing aids would have positive effects, meaning older participants had higher expectations.
03No statistically significant correlations were found between hearing performance and age, schooling, or gender.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study had a very small sample size of only 15 participants, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The study was observational and did not measure actual hearing aid outcomes or satisfaction after fitting, only pre-fitting expectations. The authors noted that relating findings to previous studies was difficult due to little existing scientific production on minimal hearing loss in adults.
Declared interests
The text states the research was approved by the institution's Research Ethics Committee but does not explicitly declare funding sources or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that older age is the primary cause of poor hearing performance in minimal hearing loss. While older participants had higher expectations for hearing aids, the study found no statistically significant correlation between age and actual hearing performance in complex listening situations.