Evaluating remote post-fitting support services for over-the-counter hearing devices

Abstract

Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are a more affordable and accessible option for many individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. However, many clinicians and industry partners are apprehensive about how successful these new hearing aid (HA) users will be without the traditional support of audiologists. Much effort has gone into making the fitting and personalization of hearing aids accessible for OTC customers, but other post-fitting support services have not yet been translated to a remote format. Specifically, the individualized counseling audiologists traditionally provide is currently inaccessible to new HA users. The aim of this study is to explore ways of translating important aspects of audiologic counseling that contribute to satisfaction, use, and retention of HAs, to a format that is not dependent upon services provided within the clinic. Individuals with mild-to-moderate hearing loss were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) a traditional clinical treatment model; (2) a model reflective of the typical “hands off” OTC experience; or (3) a non-clinical model with orientation and personalized counseling materials provided in a remote format. We hypothesize that individuals receiving personalized counseling remotely will be as successful as those receiving traditional clinical counseling, and more successful than typical OTC customers.