Ear and Hearing最新文献

{"title":"The Benefits of Hearing Aids for Adults: A Systematic Umbrella Review.","authors":"Diana Tang, Yvonne Tran, Rebecca J Bennett, Charles Lo, Jien Nien Lee, Jessica Turner, Bamini Gopinath","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001620","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001620","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This umbrella review aims to summarize the major benefits of hearing aid usage in adults by synthesizing findings from published review articles.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A comprehensive search of databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar, was conducted. The search was limited to English-language review articles published between 1990 and 2023, focusing on hearing aid outcomes in at least 5 adults (aged ≥18 years). Two researchers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles, and conducted a quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses. A third researcher was involved in discussions with the 2 researchers to resolve conflicts during the screening and quality assessment stages.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eleven articles were included in this review. There were three systematic reviews with meta-analysis and eight systematic reviews without meta-analysis. The quality assessment indicated that articles scored between 6 and 11 out of a total of 11 criteria. Three articles met all quality criteria. Study participants tended to be middle-aged (≥40 years) or older adults (≥65 years). Participant gender was less clear as this was not consistently reported but appeared to favor men. This umbrella review found that speech perception, communication function, hearing handicap, and self-assessed hearing aid benefit were consistently positively associated with hearing aid use in the analysis of included studies. Hearing handicap was the most frequently reported outcome with evidence from four different studies supporting its mitigation with hearing aid use. There was insufficient evidence in terms of benefit on balance, cognitive function, depression, tinnitus, loneliness, and social isolation. There was conflicting evidence on the impact of hearing aid use on quality of life. Among eligible studies, there were no reports of negative impacts of hearing aid use.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>There are a number of potential benefits associated with hearing aid use. However, this review found that there was a clear lack of high-quality evidence and limited use of robust study design to support the benefits of hearing aids on other outcomes such as quality of life and cognition. Inconsistent use and interpretation of various outcome measures makes it difficult to produce homogenous data which is needed to make more conclusive statements about the benefits of hearing aids.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"563-570"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143030433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sleep-Associated Traits and Hearing Difficulties in Noise: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study.","authors":"Chunyan Liu, Xiaonan Wu, Jin Li, Shan Song, Jing Guan, Qiuju Wang","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001625","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001625","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The aim of this study was to investigate the causal relationships between sleep-associated traits and hearing difficulties in noise (HDinN) by Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with chronotype, insomnia, sleep duration, daytime dozing or sleeping, and ease of getting up in the morning were extracted from European population genome-wide association study pooled data for bidirectional MR analysis. The MR-Egger regression, the inverse variance weighted technique, and the weighted median method were used for data analysis. The study was then expanded to include South Asian, East Asian, African, and Greater Middle Eastern populations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>MR analysis indicated that in European populations, ease of getting up in the morning is a protective factor for HDinN (odds ratio [OR] = 0.932, p = 4.22 × 10 -5 , pFDR = 5.62 × 10 -4 ), while shorter sleep duration was a risk factor (undersleepers: OR = 1.164, p = 0.002, pFDR = 0.014). In addition, there was an indicative causal association between daytime dozing and HDinN (OR = 1.089, p = 0.046, pFDR = 0.123). The conclusions were consistent in African populations (ease of getting up: OR = 0.696, p = 0.012, pFDR = 0.041, sleep duration: OR = 0.677, p = 0.032 pFDR = 0.091, daytime dozing: OR = 1.164, p = 0.002, pFDR = 0.014). In the reverse direction, there was a significant causal association between HDinN and both chronotype (OR = 1.413, p = 0.011, pFDR = 0.042) and ease of getting up in the morning (OR = 0.668, p = 1.75 × 10 -5 , pFDR = 3.49 × 10 -4 ) in European populations, with similar conclusions respectively reached in East Asian (OR = 1.085, p = 0.010, pFDR = 0.045) and African populations (OR = 0.936, p = 0.002, pFDR = 0.012). Furthermore, although not observed in European populations, exploratory studies in non-European populations suggested a potential association between insomnia and HDinN (East Asian: OR = 1.920, p = 0.011, pFDR = 0.043, African: OR = 2.080, p = 0.004, pFDR = 0.019, South Asian: OR = 1.981, p = 1.59 × 10 -4 , PFDR = 0.002, Greater Middle Eastern: OR = 2.394, p = 0.002, pFDR = 0.012), and vice versa (Greater Middle Eastern: OR = 1.056, p = 0.014, pFDR = 0.044).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study identified a potential bidirectional causal relationship between sleep-associated traits and HDinN. However, the underlying mechanisms of the causal relationships reported here have yet to be elucidated.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"817-826"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11984542/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143016833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Do Enriched Speech Acoustics Support Language Acquisition in Children With Hearing Loss? A Narrative Review.","authors":"Laura E Hahn, Anke Hirschfelder, Dirk Mürbe, Claudia Männel","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001606","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001606","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Language outcomes of children with hearing loss remain heterogeneous despite recent advances in treatment and intervention. Consonants with high frequency, in particular, continue to pose challenges to affected children's speech perception and production. In this review, the authors evaluate findings of how enriched child-directed speech and song might function as a form of early family-centered intervention to remedy the effects of hearing loss on consonant acquisition already during infancy. First, they review the developmental trajectory of consonant acquisition and how it is impeded by permanent pediatric hearing loss. Second, they assess how phonetic-prosodic and lexico-structural features of caregiver speech and song could facilitate acquisition of consonants in the high-frequency range. Last, recommendations for clinical routines and further research are expressed.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"551-562"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11984552/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142803557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Auditory Environment at Early Intervention Groups for Young Children With Hearing Loss: Signal to Noise Ratio, Background Noise, and Reverberation.","authors":"Annerenée Meijer, Michel Ruben Benard, Aart Woonink, Deniz Başkent, Evelien Dirks","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001627","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001627","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>One important aspect in facilitating language access for children with hearing loss (HL) is the auditory environment. An optimal auditory environment is characterized by high signal to noise ratios (SNRs), low background noise levels, and low reverberation times. In this study, the authors describe the auditory environment of early intervention groups specifically equipped for young children with HL.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Seven early intervention groups for children with HL were included in the study. A total of 26 young children (22 to 46 months) visiting those groups participated. Language Environmental Analysis recorders were used to record all sounds around a child during one group visit. The recordings were analyzed to estimate SNR levels and background noise levels during the intervention groups. The unoccupied noise levels and reverberation times were measured in the unoccupied room either directly before or after the group visit.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The average SNR encountered by the children in the intervention groups was +13 dB SNR. The detected speech of the attending professionals achieved the +15 dB SNR recommended by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in approximately 42% of the time. The unoccupied noise levels were between 29 and 39 dBA, complying with acoustic norms for classroom environments (≤35 dBA, by ANSI/ASA 12.60-2010 Part 1) for six out of seven groups. Reverberation time was between 0.3 and 0.6 sec for all groups, which complies to the acoustic norms for classroom environments for children without HL (0.6 or 0.7 sec, depending on the room size), while only one group complied to the stricter norm for children with HL (0.3 sec).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The current findings show characteristics of the auditory environment of a setting that is specifically equipped and designed for groups of children with HL. Maintaining favorable SNRs seems to be the largest challenge to achieve within the constraints of an environment where young children gather, play, and learn. The results underscore the importance of staying attentive to keep spoken language accessible for children with HL in a group setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"827-837"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11984553/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142959024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating a Hearing Loop Implementation for Live Orchestral Music.","authors":"Sean McWeeny, Laurel J Trainor, Steve Armstrong, Dan Bosnyak, Hany Tawfik, Ian C Bruce","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001626","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001626","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Live music creates a sense of connectedness in older adults, which can help alleviate the social isolation frequently associated with hearing loss and aging. However, most hearing-aid (HA) users are dissatisfied with the sound quality of live music and rate sound quality as important to them. Assistive listening systems are frequently independent of a user's HAs and fall short in tailoring to each individual's hearing loss. The present study thus tested whether the use of a hearing loop would improve sound quality during an orchestral concert.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Participants with symmetrical moderate-to-severe hearing loss were assigned to use Sonova-provided HAs with a telecoil (n = 20) or their own HAs (n = 8) without a telecoil during a performance by the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. We changed loop input to use one of three feeds every 5 minutes: a mix of microphones from the hall's standard assistive feed on the first balcony (house condition), a mix of microphones located on the stage (stage condition), or no input to the loop (no feed). After each 5-minute interval, we collected sound quality and naturalness ratings for the previous 5 minutes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Sound quality and naturalness ratings were highly related (rRM = 0.81), though each provided unique insight. Repeated measures analysis of variance found significant differences among the loop feed conditions for sound quality and naturalness, with the no feed condition significantly outperforming the house condition on sound quality [ t (18) = -3.73, adj. p = 0.005] and naturalness [ t (18) = -4.15, adj. p = 0.002]. Mixed effects models allowed us to retain the richness of a repeated observation dataset and provided point estimates of the overall quality and naturalness among conditions; however, assumption violations of normality and homoskedasticity prevented further interpretation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Though HA-integrated assistive listening systems are a promising option for improving live music for people with hearing loss, a hearing loop does not seem to be crucial for orchestral music. Future directions include improving lyric understanding for music with vocals and customizing user experience via Bluetooth Low Energy Audio systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"808-816"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143048626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association of Occupational Noise Exposure and Extended High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Young Workers With Normal Hearing.","authors":"Panqi Xue, Wulan Zhao, Xiangjing Gao, Fang Wei, Fei Xu, Hongwei Xie, Hangze Mao, Hua Zou, Wei Qiu","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001618","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001618","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Studies on the relationship between occupational noise exposure and extended high-frequency (EHF) hearing loss are limited. This study investigated the relationship between occupational noise exposure and EHF hearing loss in workers exposed to noise as measured by sound pressure level, exposure duration, and kurtosis to help provide a basis for early detection and prevention of hearing loss in noise-exposed workers.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 602 participants with 472 noise-exposed workers and 130 non-noise-exposed controls. General demographic characteristics, noise exposure data, and hearing thresholds at conventional frequencies (0.25 to 8 kHz) and EHF (9 to 16 kHz) were collected and analyzed. Linear mixed-effects model analyses between hearing thresholds of EHF and noise exposure indicators including the 8-h equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level ( LAeq,8h ), cumulative noise exposure (CNE), and kurtosis-adjusted CNE (CNE-K) were conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among the 602 participants included in the analysis, 472 individuals (78.4%) were occupationally exposed to noise exposures ≥75 dBA. Significant differences ( p < 0.05) were observed in sex, exposure duration, LAeq,8h , CNE, and CNE-K between the noise-exposed group and the nonexposed group. The mean hearing thresholds for all tested extended high frequencies ranging from 9 to 16 kHz were significantly higher in the noise-exposed group than in the nonexposed group ( p < 0.05). The mean hearing thresholds of subjects in different groups of LAeq,8h exposures were generally stable with little variance in the conventional frequencies (0.25 to 8 kHz) but differed in the EHF range. Moreover, EHF hearing loss appeared to be most prominent in the subjects exposed to noise with 80 dBA < LAeq,8h ≤ 85 dBA. After the combination of the sound pressure level, exposure duration, and kurtosis by using the noise exposure indicators CNE and CNE-K, the subjects at the different noise exposures showed significant differences in hearing thresholds at EHF ( p < 0.05). Linear mixed-effected model analyses showed that the CNE-K was the best to indicate noise-induced hearing loss among the three noise exposure indicators at EHF.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results indicate that the EHF hearing threshold testing is more sensitive to identifying early occupational noise-induced hearing loss than conventional audiometry. The CNE-K, an indicator combining noise energy, exposure duration, and kurtosis, is a more comprehensive and effective method for assessing the risk of EHF hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"758-769"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11984550/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142900543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using the Mismatch Negativity to Evaluate Hearing Aid Directional Enhancement Based on Multistream Architecture.","authors":"Christopher Slugocki, Francis Kuk, Petri Korhonen","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001619","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001619","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To evaluate whether hearing aid directivity based on multistream architecture (MSA) might enhance the mismatch negativity (MMN) evoked by phonemic contrasts in noise.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Single-blind within-subjects design. Fifteen older adults (mean age = 72.7 years, range = 40 to 88 years, 8 females) with a moderate-to-severe degree of sensorineural hearing loss participated. Participants first performed an adaptive two-alternative forced choice phonemic discrimination task to determine the speech level-that is, signal to noise ratio (SNR)-required to reliably discriminate between two monosyllabic stimuli (/ba/ and /da/) presented in the presence of ongoing fixed-level background noise. Participants were then presented with a phonemic oddball sequence alternating on each trial between two loudspeakers located in the front at 0° and -30° azimuth. This sequence presented the same monosyllabic stimuli in the same background noise at individualized SNRs determined by the phonemic discrimination task. The MMN was measured as participants passively listened to the oddball sequence in two hearing aid conditions: MSA-ON and MSA-OFF.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The magnitude of the MMN component was significantly enhanced when evoked in MSA-ON relative to MSA-OFF conditions. Unexpectedly, MMN magnitudes were also positively related to degrees of hearing loss. Neither MSA nor the participant's hearing loss was found to independently affect MMN latency. However, MMN latency was significantly affected by the interaction of hearing aid condition and individualized SNRs, where a negative relationship between individualized SNR and MMN latency was observed only in the MSA-OFF condition.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Hearing aid directivity based on the MSA approach was found to improve preattentive detection of phonemic contrasts in a simulated multi-talker situation as indexed by larger MMN component magnitudes. The MMN may generally be useful for exploring the underlying nature of speech-in-noise benefits conferred by some hearing aid features.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"747-757"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11984554/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142856682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Audiology Through a Psychologically Informed Practice Lens.","authors":"Emma C Laird, Christina A Bryant, Caitlin M Barr, Rebecca J Bennett","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001603","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001603","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psychologically informed practice is a structural framework originating in physiotherapy, that aids clinicians to identify, consider, and address the psychological factors related to chronic conditions and their management. Hearing loss is a chronic condition associated with a variety of psychosocial impacts, and psychological factors are known to heavily influence the engagement, adherence, and success of hearing rehabilitation. This framework could provide a structured method to manage these factors by using evidence-based psychological theory and applications. This article presents an argument for psychologically informed practice to be used within hearing healthcare, proposes how this framework could be adapted to meet the unique needs of audiology, and considers the pathways and barriers to implementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"585-595"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142907867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"To Ear and Hearing Reviewers: Thank You.","authors":"Ruth Y Litovsky","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001647","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":"46 3","pages":"757"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144056229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of Communication Outcomes With Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids.","authors":"Grace Szatkowski, Pamela Elizabeth Souza","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001608","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001608","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are a treatment option for adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. Previous investigations demonstrated the benefits of OTC hearing aids, primarily self-fit OTCs (i.e., self-adjustable with a smartphone or tablet), on self-reported hearing aid benefit and speech recognition using standardized measures. However, less is known regarding whether OTC hearing aids effectively improve aspects of everyday communication, particularly with preprogrammed OTCs (i.e., OTCs with manufacturer-defined programs). The goal of this study was to evaluate the benefits of preprogrammed OTC hearing aids for two important aspects of communication: (1) conversation efficiency, or the time taken during conversations with a familiar communication partner (e.g., one's spouse) and (2) auditory recall following speech recognition, a critical aspect of participation during conversations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;This study used a within-subject design with thirty adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss and their familiar communication partners. Participants were fitted with preprogrammed OTC hearing aids using the default program with the best match to target for each listener. The primary outcome measures were conversation efficiency and auditory recall. Speech recognition-in-noise served as a secondary measure. Conversation efficiency was evaluated using the DiapixUK task, a \"spot-the-difference\" conversation task in quiet, and measured as the sum of time taken to correctly identify differences between two similar pictures. Within-subject comparisons were made for hearing aid condition (without and with OTC hearing aids in the default setting). Auditory recall was assessed with the Repeat and Recall Test following speech recognition-in-noise with low- and high-context sentence presentations at 5- and 10-dB signal to noise ratios. In addition to the mentioned hearing aid conditions, an additional comparison was made with the OTC hearing aid noise-reduction program. Linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate the effect of OTC hearing aid use on primary measures of efficiency and recall. Friedman signed-rank test was used to evaluate speech recognition scores.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;We did not find a significant improvement in conversation efficiency with OTC hearing aid use compared with the unaided condition. For auditory recall, we observed the poorest median recall scores with the default program and the best median scores with the noise-reduction program, although neither observation was statistically significant. Sentence recognition scores were near ceiling in the unaided condition and were poorest with use of the OTC hearing aids in the default program across most signal to noise ratio and context test conditions. Our findings did not show improvements in communication outcomes with OTC hearing aid use. Small to medium effect sizes for our data may be indicative of the limita","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":"653-672"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142774942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}