Arnold Michelle L, Sanchez Victoria A
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida.
Semin Hear. 2022 Jul 26;43(2):110-120. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1748835. eCollection 2022 May.
The proportion of individuals who pose to benefit from the use of hearing aids is much smaller than those who adopt them. Likewise, many adults who try hearing devices abandon using them after a short period of time. Most factors related to hearing aid use are unrelated to a patient's hearing loss severity. Hearing loss treatment requires more than the provision of hearing aids as a sole intervention. Adoption rates could be improved through the implementation of evidence-based clinical protocols which maximize patients' success. Recently, the Audiology Practice Standards Organization (APSO) released evidence-based, formal standards of practice addressing hearing aid selection, fitting, and rehabilitation for adult and geriatric patients. Notably, the standards acknowledge the importance of an amplification needs assessment, including hearing aid outcomes measurement. In this brief narrative, we describe Standards 3 and 14 ( and ) and offer an example of the clinical implementation of a comprehensive needs assessment and hearing aid outcomes measurement currently being used in a multisite, longitudinal clinical trial.
