Adult hearing loss is common, yet hearing-aid uptake remains inadequate due to systemic and financial barriers in traditional audiologist-based fitting models. Over-the-counter (OTC) and self-fitting strategies have emerged to improve accessibility, allowing users to select and adjust their devices independently....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
The meta-analytic findings on self-fitting vs. professional-fitting outcomes should prompt audiologists to review their value proposition and counsel patients on where professional fitting adds measurable benefit, particularly for complex hearing profiles.
As OTC hearing aids gain regulatory traction globally, robust RCT-level evidence on self-fitting efficacy directly informs both clinical practice and health policy.
- 01Systematic review and meta-analysis synthesising RCT data — highest level of evidence for this comparison.
- 02Compares self-fitting (OTC-style) hearing aids with professionally fitted devices on patient outcomes.
- 03Financial barriers to professional fitting are explicitly discussed as a context for OTC access.
- 04Results are particularly timely given US FDA OTC hearing aid regulations enacted in 2022.
- 05Findings could influence how audiologists position professional services against self-fit alternatives.
Self-fitting hearing aids produce outcomes that are comparable to professionally fitted hearing aids in randomised controlled trials.
studypartially supportedFinancial barriers are a significant driver of the demand for self-fitting and OTC hearing aids.
studysupported- PMID
- 42776781
- DOI
- 10.3390/audiolres16050139.
- Journal
- Audiology Research
- Publication type
- meta_analysis
- Evidence level
- 1a
- Population
- Adults with hearing loss enrolled in randomised controlled trials of self-fitting vs. professionally fitted hearing aids
- Intervention
- Self-fitting hearing aids (including OTC devices)
- Comparator
- Professionally fitted hearing aids
Primary outcomes
Hearing aid outcomes (audiological and patient-reported); Impact of financial barriers on hearing aid access and uptake