Using Hearing Aids for Music: A UK Survey of Challenges and Strategies.
Alinka E Greasley, Amy V Beeston, Robert J Fulford and 4 others
PMID 41568998WHAT IT FOUND
Hearing aid users find aids helpful for music but struggle with distortion and lyrics, especially in live settings.
Many remove their aids or switch to headphones for better sound. Audiologist discussions on music are rare and often unhelpful.
Key findings
01Distortion is the most common difficulty, reported by 80% of users in recorded settings, and live music is rated significantly less helpful than recorded music.
02Removing hearing aids is the most frequently cited strategy to improve music listening, particularly for those with mild to moderate hearing loss in live or loud contexts.
03Only 34% of users had a music program available, and even among those, frequent use was low; discussions with audiologists about music were initiated by the patient in 88% of cases and were rated helpful by only 14%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The survey data was collected between 2016 and 2018, so it may not reflect current hearing aid technology, such as widespread Bluetooth streaming or AI-based processing. Hearing loss level was primarily determined by self-reported speech descriptors rather than audiograms, which only agreed with audiometric data about 50% of the time. The sample was highly educated (63% with a degree or higher) and predominantly white, which may not represent the general population of hearing aid users. The study did not assess asymmetrical hearing loss, as participants could not report hearing levels for each ear separately.
Declared interests
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume hearing aids are ineffective for music or that music programs are the solution. The study shows that while aids are helpful for some elements like bass, they often fail with lyrics and distortion, particularly in live settings. Simply switching to a 'music program' is not enough; successful use often requires individualized adjustments by a clinician or alternative strategies like using headphones or removing the aids.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →