Susan Clutterbuck B. Sc. (Hons), Traralgon, Victoria (Australien)
Video 18 2017
“Real-world outcomes for basic and premium technology: Is there a difference?”
Evidence-based practice is the “gold standard” by which hearing aid practitioners should apply procedures and make recommendations to their patients. What is the evidence that higher levels of hearing aid technology will deliver better performance than more basic technology?
Recent research by the Hearing Aid Research Laboratory (HARL) at the University of Memphis investigated performance for basic and premium technology hearing aids. The study found no significant differences between technology levels for a range of laboratory measures and selfreported outcomes.
The sample size was small (45), and the research team recommended further investigation across a larger sample. They also recommended self-report measures were preferable to laboratory measures of performance.
This presentation is based on data consistent with both these recommendations. The large database generated by the EARtrak hearing aid survey process allows analysis of consumer self-reported outcomes for different levels of hearing aid technology. When the EARtrak group was matched with the HARL group for hearing loss, gender, and age, there were some significant differences.
Further analysis has shown some other, somewhat surprising, differences. These results will be presented, and have the potential to generate interesting discussions.