Advantages of a new miniature hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To evaluate the performance of a new, miniature, behind-the-ear hearing aid designed for individuals with mild to moderate high-frequency hearing loss who need an aid but are reluctant to try one. The aid is essentially invisible, leaves the ear canal open, and can be fit in less than 30 minutes without an ear impression. The cost is less than $500.

STUDY DESIGN

A 4-week trial of the aid in 63 ears (62 subjects) with mild to moderate bilateral hearing loss.

METHODS

A questionnaire was completed at the end of the study by each subject asking them to evaluate several features of the aid (cosmesis, comfort, understanding speech, amplification, and so forth) and to compare their unaided performance in quiet and in noise with the test hearing aid. A rating scale of 1 to 10 was used, with 10 being excellent and 1 poor.

RESULTS

Subjective improvement in understanding speech in both quiet (5.8-->7.3) and noise (4.6-->5.9) occurred with the aid. Cosmesis, comfort, and appearance were highly rated (mean scores, > 8).

CONCLUSIONS

This aid appears to have several features (comfort, cost, performance, and cosmesis) that make it ideal as a first aid for patients with mild to moderate losses.