National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
The aim of the proposed project is to evaluate the effectiveness of emerging over-the-counter (OTC) service delivery models with the gold standard traditional prescription hearing aids fit by hearing care professionals (HCP) using audiology best practices. OTC service delivery models include OTC HA fit to individual users using best practices with in person HCP support (OTC-HPC), via remote consultation (OTC-R) and self-fit OTC HAs without any clinical support (OTC-SF). The study will use a prospective four-arm randomized controlled trial design with longitudinal repeated measures.
Age
40–any
Sex
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
You may be eligible if
Adult onset, bilateral, mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss documented by audiological evaluation
Aged 40 years or older
No previous HA experience greater than 3 months
Able to read and understand patient education materials
Willing to be randomized to one of the four groups, and
Owns a smartphone
You may not be if
Hearing loss that is too severe for OTC HAs
Middle ear disorders or conductive pathology present
Asymmetrical hearing loss
Diagnosed neurological condition such as dementia or Parkinson's disease or a score lower than 25 on the MOCA
Non-English speaking as it may impact the ability to complete our test battery
Clareo Health | Innovations in Hearing Accessibility and Technology (IHAT) Study
