To evaluate whether hearing aids improve speech recognition in noise and self-reported listening outcomes in clinically heterogeneous adults with subjective listening difficulties in noise.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Evidence for fitting hearing aids in adults with normal audiograms but subjective listening difficulty in noise is still emerging; audiologists should monitor this research before routinely changing fitting criteria, but the findings may support selective trial fittings for this population.
A growing number of patients present with hearing difficulties that standard audiometry misses, and evidence on how to manage them with amplification is critically needed to guide clinical and policy decisions.
- 01Study targets adults with normal audiograms who still report difficulty hearing speech in noisy environments.
- 02Evaluated both objective speech-in-noise recognition and self-reported outcomes with hearing aids.
- 03Published in International Journal of Audiology (peer-reviewed).
- 04Results could inform whether fitting criteria should extend beyond audiometric thresholds.
- 05Addresses a clinically underserved and diagnostically challenging patient group.
Hearing aids can improve speech-in-noise recognition in adults with normal audiograms but subjective listening difficulties.
studyunclearSelf-reported listening outcomes improve with hearing aid use in this population.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42830400
- DOI
- 10.1080/14992027.2026.2740323.
- Journal
- International Journal of Audiology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Adults with subjective listening difficulties in noise and normal audiograms
- Intervention
- Hearing aid fitting
Primary outcomes
Speech-in-noise recognition; Self-reported listening outcomes