Abstract
Objective: 1) Understand whether a new low-cost (<$200) hearing aid has adequate technical specifications. 2) Learn if patients with mild to moderately severe hearing loss report satisfaction scores comparable to those reported in the literature while using this hearing aid.
Method: An analysis of the hearing aid was performed evaluating critical electroacoustic parameters. A prospective study was performed on 9 patients from August 2010 to July 2011 who wore the device for 30 days and completed 2 surveys: “International Outcome Inventory–Hearing Aids” and “Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Living.”
Results: The hearing aid met gain and output targets previously described in the literature. All 9 participants completed the study. The device met the range of norms for all 7 items in the IOI-HA (P < .05) and for 3 of the 5 categories of SADL.
Conclusion: The low-cost hearing aid was found to be electroacoustically adequate and a reasonable low-cost solution to meet the needs of those value- and cost-conscious patients with up to moderately severe hearing loss who were not using amplification via a custom hearing device due to cost considerations.
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