Clinical trial NCT04230876: Auditory Training and Hearing Aid Satisfaction
Official title: Auditory Brain Training to Enhance Satisfaction and Usage of New Hearing Aids by Older Adults
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: Hearing Impairment, Sensorineural
Keywords: Auditory Training
Lead sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
First posted: 2020-01-18
Enrollment: 30
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Intervention model description: All participants experience the same interventions and assessments. Subjects are divided into either early or late intervention groups.
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: Although hearing aids are the most common treatment for hearing loss, and have the potential to help seniors stay active and productive, almost 50% of them who receive hearing aids rarely if ever use them, a state of affairs sometimes referred to as "the hearing aid in the drawer" syndrome. clEAR's customized auditory brain training has been shown to be effective in improving adults' abilities to recognize speech, in reducing their perceptual effort associated with listening with a hearing loss, and in increasing their confidence to engage in everyday conversations. In the proposed research, we will determine whether older adults who receive hearing aids for the first time report higher satisfaction with their new hearing aids and have longer daily use time as a result of having completed clEAR's auditory brain training program for new hearing aid users.

Detailed description: Auditory training as the potential to dramatically affect older persons' adjustment to a new hearing aid and to maximize the benefits they receive from wearing one. In turn, by wearing hearing aids, they experience easier and more successful communication patterns. They enhance their ability to engage in everyday conversations and will be able to become more socially involved with their family and friends. In this study we will try to determine the extent to which web-based clEAR auditory brain training, with concomitant support from a clEAR in-house audiologist, affects satisfaction with new hearing aids and increases daily use time. The study will include thirty adults over the age of 60 years who have received hearing aids for the first time. After an adjustment period, half will complete clEAR's auditory brain training program right away and the other half will complete it after a delay period, and both will complete a control condition. To establish the level of feasibility and clinical utility. We will measure hearing aid satisfaction, benefit ratings, and hearing aid use time.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Must be a native English speaker
* Must have a mild to severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
* Must be a candidate for new hearing aid(s) (have never used hearing aids)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Cognitive impairment or any factors that would prohibit a participant from completing questionnaires
* Cognitive or speech production factors that would prohibit a participant from repeating words during a speech perception test.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Hearing Aid Satisfaction After Auditory Training
timeFrame: Three weeks after hearing aid fitting and after completing the four week training protocol.
measure: Change in Hearing Aid Satisfaction After Auditory Training
timeFrame: Three weeks after hearing aid fitting and after completing the four week training protocol.
measure: Change in Hearing Aid Satisfaction After Auditory Training
timeFrame: Three weeks after hearing aid fitting and after completing the four week training protocol.
measure: Change in Hearing Aid Satisfaction After Auditory Training
timeFrame: Three weeks after hearing aid fitting and after completing the four week training protocol.
measure: Change in Hearing Aid Satisfaction After Auditory Training
timeFrame: Three weeks after hearing aid fitting and after completing the four week training protocol.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Percent Words Correct on Speech Perception Measures After Auditory Training
timeFrame: At the time of hearing aid fitting (baseline), three weeks after hearing aid fitting, and after completing the four week training protocol.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Saint Louis
country: United States
facility: Washington University School of Medicine
state: Missouri
Study officials:
References: