There is limited evidence available to clearly guide an audiologist's selection of hearing aid technology levels. The purpose of this study was to explore the decision-making process of audiologists for hearing aid selection, with particular attention to the role of a patient's auditory lifestyle.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
This qualitative study surfaces the real-world factors driving audiologists' technology-level recommendations; while it does not prescribe a change in protocol, it highlights areas (e.g., financial bias, patient lifestyle assessment) where more structured decision-making frameworks could improve consistency.
Understanding the informal reasoning behind hearing aid technology selection can reveal unintended biases and inform the development of evidence-based decision-support tools for audiologists.
- 01Qualitative design captures the lived decision-making process of practicing audiologists.
- 02Explores factors beyond audiogram results that influence hearing aid technology-level choice.
- 03Findings may reveal implicit biases related to patient finances, age, or provider preference.
- 04Published in the American Journal of Audiology (2026).
- 05Has direct implications for professional training and clinical guideline development.
Audiologists use a range of clinical and non-clinical factors when selecting hearing aid technology levels for patients.
studysupported- PMID
- 42735288
- DOI
- 10.1044/2026_AJA-26-00063.
- Journal
- American Journal of Audiology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 5
- Population
- Practicing audiologists in clinical settings
- Intervention
- Qualitative exploration of clinical decision-making processes
Primary outcomes
Themes and factors influencing audiologists' hearing aid technology-level selection