source: bhNEWS
Michigan State University News - August 6, 2998
Abstract of the srticle in the June issue of the American Journal of
Audiology, as cited:
http://aja.asha.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/1/14
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MSU study finds that not all hearing aids are created equal
Consumers with hearing loss might think they are saving significantly
more by purchasing over- the-counter hearing aids, but they most
likely will be disappointed =96 or could be taking risks =96 when
purchasing such aids, according to MSU research.
Professor Jerry Punch of the Department of Communicative Sciences and
Disorders and Susanna Love Callaway, a lifelong education alumna and
international student from Denmark, published their study on over-the-
counter hearing aids in the June issue of the American Journal of
Audiology.
Through her work as a student in Punch=92s two online courses, Callaway
began to wonder about the high cost variability of hearing aids and
asked Punch to advise her on a potential project. Specifically, do
hearing aids have to be expensive to work from a purely technical
standpoint? Punch and Callaway set out to find the answer by
subjecting 11 over-the-counter hearing aids to the same test protocol
as traditional hearing aids.
Most consumers do not have or have only partial insurance coverage for
hearing aids, leading to out-of-pocket expenses ranging from hundreds
to thousands of dollars. Low-cost options are typically marketed on
the Internet and in mail-order magazines as listening devices =96 often
for bird watchers or deer hunters.
=93These low-cost amplifying devices can look tempting to individuals
with hearing impairment because of the significant cost differences,=94
Punch said. =93But our research found that the low-cost aids generally
don=92t meet the fitting requirements to help a hearing-impaired person
and could potentially damage a person=92s hearing.=94
The research is im****tant to consumers, Callaway said. =93Aside from
being of extremely poor quality, very low-cost hearing aids - those
under $100 - have the potential to damage your hearing because they
send very loud sounds into the ear. The study=92s mid-range hearing aids
($100-500) were of higher quality and were not considered a safety
hazard.=94
The authors state in their article that aids costing $100 to $500
often control the amount of sound sent into the ear better, but
without a precise and knowledge-based fitting of the device by an
audiologist, consumers can expect to experience hit-or-miss success,
Punch said. =93Based on the research, the best advice for consumers is
to talk to an audiologist. Because hearing aids have complex technical
features, they need to be fitted and customized to the individual.=94
The study measured how well the electronic features of the devices
could compensate for commonly occurring types of hearing loss,
employing methods that audiologists use to fit conventional hearing
aids - a process audiologists call prescriptive fitting. Specifically,
the researchers found that only a few of the aids they studied met the
basic fitting requirements, and, for the few that did, that was true
only for a specific degree of hearing loss.
=93Currently, more than 32 million people have a hearing impairment, yet
only about 25 percent of those use hearing aids,=94 Punch said.
=93Meanwhile, the aging population is growing - and hearing loss becomes
more common as we become older.=94
Although the Food and Drug Administration officially regulates hearing
aids, those regulations are not enforced for low-cost amplifying
devices that are sold through mail order and on the Internet, Punch
said. He thinks that people with hearing loss should have more
information about these devices.
The research was funded by the Oticon Foundation, and equipment was
provided by Frye Electronics of Oregon for the duration of study.
Callaway is first author on the paper, which was part of her master=92s
thesis for her degree in audiology at the University of Copenhagen.
She is currently completing the requirements for a doctorate degree at
Western Michigan University.
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