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The overall pattern of findings suggest that haptic (touch) sensitivity in the fingertips and manual dexterity, as well as disability, pain, and joint stiffness of the hand, all contribute to the successful operation of a hearing instrument. However, although aging is associated with declining hand function and co-occurring declines in ability to manipulate a hearing instrument, for the sample of individuals in this study, including those who self-reported having arthritis, only minimal declines were observed.

Objective The objective of the study was to determine whether short-term experience (i.e., 4 weeks) with a smartphone-based hearing aid application (SHAA) might positively improve attitudes toward amplification uptake and hearing impairment. Method We recruited 15 experienced hearing aid wearers who had ceased wearing their devices for > 1 year (i.e., “In-the-Drawer” group) and 15 individuals with self-reported hearing difficulties who had yet to adopt hearing aids (i.e., “First-Time” group). We obtained participant attitudes pre- and post-SHAA using 3 surveys and analyzed perceptible changes in attitude for each survey. Comparative findings were then generalized to the health belief model in the context of perceived benefits (i.e., efficacy of an action to reduce risk) and reduced perceived barriers (i.e., tangible and psychological costs that inhibit compliance and adoption). Results A short trial period with an SHAA appears to modify the psychological perception toward amplification and reduce listener perception with respect to hearing difficulties in both groups. Conclusion A short trial period with an SHAA improved the perceived benefits and reduced the perceived barriers in the average First-Time listener, who often delays adoption of traditional amplification. The same trial period was also found to improve perceived benefits and reduce perceived barriers for the average In-the-Drawer listener, but to a lesser degree than their First-Time counterparts.

This study was a double blind comparison of three types of hearing aid circuits: Class A linear peak clipping, Class D compression limiting and K-Amp wide dynamic range compression. Subjective ratings, speech perception tests, real ear measurements and questionnaire data were obtained from a group of 17 new hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. The results indicate a similar performance for all three circuits. We saw no evidence of performance degradation due to saturation distortion, even in the presence of high levels of speech and noise. Our primary conclusions include recommending K-Amps to new hearing aid users with mild to moderate hearing loss, mostly on the basis of battery life, while cautioning about the use of compression knee-point controls and recognizing that Class A and Class D amplifiers are virtually equivalent in every performance measurement.

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