Study Finds Older Adults Prefer Traditional Medical Settings for Hearing Care

A newly published study in BMC Geriatrics finds that older adults consistently prefer receiving hearing healthcare information, testing, and hearing devices through traditional medical settings rather than retail stores, online channels, or other nonmedical alternatives....

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Traditional clinic-based care delivery remains the preferred model among older adults; audiologists can use this evidence to reinforce the value of in-person medical settings when counseling patients or planning service delivery, though practice workflows need not change immediately.

As over-the-counter hearing aids and direct-to-consumer channels expand, this study provides evidence that older adults' strong preference for medical settings may limit uptake of non-traditional care models and supports continued investment in clinical infrastructure.

1. 01Older adults consistently preferred traditional medical settings for all stages of hearing healthcare.
2. 02Preference covered information-seeking, hearing testing, and hearing device acquisition.
3. 03Retail, online, and other non-medical channels were less preferred across the board.
4. 04Published in BMC Geriatrics, a peer-reviewed journal focused on older adult health.
5. 05Findings have implications for the growing over-the-counter and direct-to-consumer hearing aid market.

Journal

BMC Geriatrics

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Older adults with hearing loss or hearing care needs

Intervention

Survey of hearing healthcare channel preferences (medical vs. non-medical settings)

Comparator

Retail, online, and other non-medical hearing care channels