Hearing aids make it harder to tell if a sound is in front or behind you and to feel it as 'out there' rather than inside your head. Moving your head while listening helps a lot but does not fully fix either problem.
Both BTE and ITE hearing aids significantly reduced externalization ratings (by 2.26 and 1.73 points respectively) and front-back discrimination accuracy compared to unaided listening, with BTE significantly worse than ITE for front-back discrimination (by 0.59).
Moving the head during stimulus presentation significantly improved both externalization (by 1.51 and 1.57 points over the two still conditions) and front-back discrimination, but did not fully restore either to unaided levels.
The relationship between externalization and front-back accuracy varied enormously between the 18 participants, from no significant relationship (r = 0.06) to a very strong one (r = 0.83).
Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four participants were randomized across two intervention arms and assessed at twelve weeks for the primary outcome…
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Summarised by AI from the abstract, not the full paper. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →