A systematic review of health-related quality of life and hearing aids: final report of the American Academy of Audiology Task Force On the Health-Related Quality of Life Benefits of Amplification in Adults.

This is the final report of the American Academy of Audiology Task Force on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Benefits of Amplification in Adults. A systematic review with meta-analysis examined evidence pertaining to the use of hearing aids for improving HRQoL for adults with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Relevant search strings applied to the CENTRAL, CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, ComDisDome, EBMR, and PubMed databases identified randomized controlled trial, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental pre-post test designed studies. Sixteen studies met a priori criteria for inclusion in this review. A random-effects meta-analysis showed differential results for generic versus disease-specific HRQoL measures for within- and between-subject designs. Although generic measures used for within-subject designs did not demonstrate HRQoL benefits from hearing aids, mean effect sizes and confidence intervals for within-subject designs and disease-specific instruments suggested that hearing aids have a small-to-medium impact on HRQoL. Further, the between-subject studies supported at least a small effect for generic measures, and when measured by disease-specific instruments, hearing aids had medium-to-large effects on adults' HRQoL. This review concludes that hearing aids improve adults' HRQoL by reducing psychological, social, and emotional effects of SNHL. Future studies should include control groups using randomized controlled trials.

Candidacy and management of assistive listening devices: special needs of the elderly.

The listening needs of older individuals cannot be successfully addressed with hearing aids alone. Assistive listening devices and systems (ALDs), either solely or in conjunction with the use of personal hearing aids, can facilitate listening in various acoustic environments, especially those in which excessive noise, reverberation and distance exist between the listener and sound source. Listening situations that are especially problematic, even with hearing aids, such as listening in large groups, on the telephone, in restaurants and at concerts and movies are ideally suited for ALD use. ALDs can reduce the impact of hearing loss and also ensure safety for older individuals. Owing to a variety of age-related factors, candidacy for ALD use among older individuals must be carefully considered. In addition, several issues related to the interaction between the older adult and the devices, the compatibility of the devices and hearing aids, as well as professional issues, complicate the fitting of ALDs. The purpose of this article is to explore these issues with a particular emphasis on who are candidates for ALD use, issues related to ALD use by older individuals, fitting considerations, reasons why ALDs are rejected by older adults, and ways to avoid these potential problems.