Potential Roles of Audiologists Supporting Patients' OTC Hearing Aid Journey.

Q2 Health Professions

Seminars in Hearing Pub Date : 2025-04-16 eCollection Date: 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1055/s-0045-1806791

Todd A Ricketts

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are designed to be accessible as a self-guided experience, not requiring professional support. However, some individuals may pursue OTC hearing aids and also desire (limited) professional support. The purpose of this article was to explore the potential role of audiologists in patients' self-guided journeys with OTC hearing aids by examining four related questions. (1) Why might audiologists want to know about OTCs? (2) What types of patient support for OTC hearing aids might be beneficial for patients? (3) What additional knowledge and skills, outside of those already obtained for current prescription service delivery models, are necessary or useful? (4) What is the evidence base around service delivery as it extends to OTC hearing aids? Several potential professional support approaches are considered. While speculative due to the constraints of the limited current evidence base, potentially important factors, including the impact on patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness, were included when possible. The introduction of OTC hearing aids has changed the hearing aid marketplace; however, the demand for both OTC and prescription hearing aids is only increasing. With these changes, interested audiologists have new and unique opportunities to support more patients by participating in the OTC hearing aid marketplace through the acquisition of new OTC-specific knowledge and through partnerships with other professionals and OTC providers.

查看原文本刊更多论文

听力学家支持患者OTC助听器之旅的潜在作用。

非处方（OTC）助听器被设计为可自行使用的体验，不需要专业支持。然而，有些人可能会寻求OTC助听器，也需要（有限的）专业支持。本文的目的是通过检查四个相关问题来探讨听力学家在患者使用OTC助听器的自我指导旅程中的潜在作用。(1)为什么听力学家想知道otc ？(2)哪些类型的非处方助听器患者支持可能对患者有益？(3)除了目前处方服务提供模式已经获得的知识和技能之外，还有哪些额外的知识和技能是必要的或有用的？(4)当服务扩展到OTC助听器时，围绕服务提供的证据基础是什么？考虑了几种可能的专业支持方法。虽然由于目前有限的证据基础的限制，推测性的，潜在的重要因素，包括对患者结果和成本效益的影响，在可能的情况下被包括在内。OTC助听器的引入改变了助听器市场；然而，对OTC和处方助听器的需求只会增加。有了这些变化，感兴趣的听力学家有了新的和独特的机会，通过参与OTC助听器市场，通过获取新的OTC特定知识，并通过与其他专业人士和OTC供应商的合作，为更多的患者提供支持。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Seminars in Hearing Health Professions-Speech and Hearing

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Seminars in Hearing is a quarterly review journal that publishes topic-specific issues in the field of audiology including areas such as hearing loss, auditory disorders and psychoacoustics. The journal presents the latest clinical data, new screening and assessment techniques, along with suggestions for improving patient care in a concise and readable forum. Technological advances with regards to new auditory devices are also featured. The journal"s content is an ideal reference for both the practicing audiologist as well as an excellent educational tool for students who require the latest information on emerging techniques and areas of interest in the field.