JAMA Otoloryng Head Neck Surg

Self-fit hearing aids: A viable alternative to audiologist-fit devices?

July 19, 2024

Self-fit OTC hearing aids can offer comparable long-term benefits to audiologist-fit hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, according to this comparative effectiveness study.

• In a follow-up to a previous randomized trial, 44 participants (mean age, 63 years; 47.7% male) were included, of whom, 21 were in the audiologist-fit group and 23 in the self-fit group.
• Neither group showed significant differences in the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) global score or the Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) total score at long-term follow-up.
• No clinically meaningful group-time interaction was found between groups for the APHAB global score from 6 weeks to 8 months, but researchers found a significant interaction for the IOI-HA total score; the self-fit group generally performed better.

Source:

De Sousa KC, et al. (2024, July 11). JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Long-Term Outcomes of Self-Fit vs Audiologist-Fit Hearing Aids. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38990557/