Impact of Hearing Aid Technology on Outcomes in Daily Life III: Localization.
Jani A Johnson, Jingjing Xu, Robyn M Cox
PMID 28700447WHAT IT FOUND
Hearing aids helped people report better everyday localization than unaided.
Premium features did not beat basic features in noise or everyday reports. In lab quiet with high-frequency sounds, premium aids gave a small error reduction.
Key findings
01Premium-feature hearing aids produced smaller lab localization errors than basic-feature hearing aids for high-frequency sounds in quiet.
02Premium and basic hearing aids did not differ in lab localization with background noise or in everyday self-reported localization.
03Participants reported better everyday localization with hearing aids than without hearing aids, but lab tests did not show an aided advantage.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only adults aged 61 to 81 with mild to moderate symmetrical hearing loss, so it may not apply to younger listeners or people with more severe loss. Most participants used non-occluding domes or vents, which can let unprocessed sound enter the ear; this may change results for fully occluded fittings. Only two of six major manufacturers were tested, and the devices were 2011 technology. Some hearing aid directional features were not independently verified. Laboratory tests allowed only limited head movement and used brief stimuli, which may not match real-world localization. Everyday localization was based on recall after one-month trials, not moment-by-moment assessment.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared by any author.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that premium hearing aids improve everyday localization. The premium advantage was small and limited to high-frequency sounds in a quiet laboratory; in noise and in daily-life reports, premium and basic aids performed similarly.