Hearing Aid Settings for Hearing Loss

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Purdue University

Disqualifiers: Retrocochlear hearing loss

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 4

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial tests different hearing aid settings to help people with hearing loss better understand speech, especially when sudden noises occur. Participants will try various settings on a hearing aid to determine which makes listening and recalling sentences easiest and most comfortable. The trial compares low, high, and maximum settings for reducing sudden sounds, along with a setting where this feature is turned off. Ideal candidates are native English speakers who have difficulty hearing sounds between 2000 and 6000 Hz but do not have certain types of hearing loss, such as retrocochlear hearing loss (a rare nerve-related hearing loss). As an unphased trial, this study allows participants to explore innovative hearing aid settings and contribute to advancements in hearing technology.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that these hearing aid settings are safe for managing sudden sounds?

Research shows that hearing aids with sudden sound reduction settings can help manage loud noises by making unexpected loud sounds less harsh on the ears. These settings aim to make listening more comfortable by lowering sudden loud sounds to safe levels.

Although no direct evidence from clinical trials exists regarding the safety of these specific settings, hearing aids are generally considered safe and widely used to help with hearing loss. They are designed to improve hearing and speech understanding without causing harm.

This study tests different levels of sudden sound reduction settings. These settings are experimental, and researchers are evaluating their effectiveness. Since the trial focuses on testing different settings rather than new drugs, the risk should be minimal. Participants will try these settings to determine which ones make listening easier and more comfortable for them. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the different hearing aid settings in this trial because they could offer a tailored approach to managing sudden sounds for people with hearing loss. Traditional hearing aids don't often allow for fine-tuning of sudden sound reduction, which can be jarring and uncomfortable. This trial explores various settings—from low to maximum reduction—giving users the potential to customize their experience for better comfort and clarity. By understanding the impact of these settings, it could lead to more personalized and effective hearing solutions, addressing a common issue that many hearing aids on the market currently overlook.

What evidence suggests that this trial's hearing aid settings could be effective for hearing loss?

This trial will evaluate different settings for sudden sound reduction in hearing aids. Research has shown that adjusting hearing aids to reduce sudden loud sounds can help people with hearing loss understand and remember speech better. Participants in this trial will experience various settings, including Low, High, and Maximum Sudden Sound Reduction, as well as a Control setting with no reduction. Studies indicate that digital noise reduction (DNR) lowers the volume of hearing aids in noisy places, making it easier to focus on important sounds. By cutting down on unwanted noise, sudden sound reduction can make conversations clearer. Additionally, technology like Apple's Loud Sound Reduction, which detects sudden noises, demonstrates how hearing aids can protect against disruptive sounds. Early findings suggest that these settings can improve listening comfort and clarity, leading to better communication experiences for users. ^{1 5 6 7 8}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Joshua Alexander, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Purdue University

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for individuals with hearing loss who can hear sounds between 25-70 dB HL from 2000 - 6000 Hz and are native English speakers. It's not suitable for those with retrocochlear hearing loss, which involves issues beyond the cochlea in the inner ear.

Inclusion Criteria

Air conduction thresholds 25-70 dB HL from 2000 - 6000 Hz

I am a native English speaker.

Exclusion Criteria

I have hearing loss not caused by ear damage.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Audiological Evaluation

Participants undergo a comprehensive audiological evaluation, including pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, and other tests, along with completing online questionnaires.

1-2 weeks

1 visit (in-person), online questionnaires at home

Listening Experiments

Participants engage in listening experiments to evaluate sentence recognition, storage, and retrieval under various sudden sound reduction conditions.

2 sessions

2 visits (in-person)

Subjective Preference Ratings

Participants rate their preferences for different sudden sound reduction settings and complete the Visual Letter Monitoring test.

1 session

1 visit (in-person)

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for any additional feedback or outcomes related to the study.

2 weeks

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Sudden Sound Reduction Setting

Trial Overview The study tests how different sudden sound reduction settings on hearing aids affect speech understanding and memory. Participants will be evaluated through listening experiments to measure sentence recognition and recall, as well as subjective comfort ratings.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Maxiumum Sudden Sound Reduction Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Each participant will listen to recordings of sentences processed by a hearing aid with settings for treating sudden sounds set to Maximum.

Group II: Low Sudden Sound Reduction Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Each participant will listen to recordings of sentences processed by a hearing aid with settings for treating sudden sounds set to Low.

Group III: High Sudden Sound Reduction Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Each participant will listen to recordings of sentences processed by a hearing aid with settings for treating sudden sounds set to High.

Group IV: Control Active Control 1 Intervention

Each participant will listen to recordings of sentences processed by a hearing aid with settings for treating sudden sounds set to OFF.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Purdue University

Lead Sponsor

Trials

239

Recruited

72,200+

Oticon

Collaborator

Trials

2

Recruited

100+

Citations

1. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06340919

NCT06340919 | Hearing Aid Algorithms for Sudden Sounds This study explores the impact of hearing aid settings for managing sudden sounds on speech comprehension and recall in individuals with ...

2. medcitynews.com medcitynews.com/2024/09/the-apple-airpods-pro-have-a-new-hearing-feature-yet-the-biggest-impact-may-be-to-protect-us-all-from-noise/

The Apple AirPods Pro Have a New Hearing Feature, Yet ... The cream on this feature-rich cake is Apple's new Loud Sound Reduction capability, which scans the environment 46,000 times a second for sudden ...

3. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949916X24000860

Artificial intelligence for hearing loss prevention, diagnosis, ... This paper explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML), on diagnosing and treating hearing loss.

4. pubs.asha.org pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/1092-4388%282009/08-0111%29

Objective Measures of Listening Effort: Effects ... Regions with a low SNR are dominated by noise and contribute little to speech intelligibility, and so their gain can be reduced with little cost. As such, NR ...

5. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4111515/

Digital Noise Reduction: An Overview - PMC Simply stated, digital noise reduction (DNR) schemes are intended to reduce hearing aid output in the presence of noise.

6. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594247/

Noise Exposure and Hearing Loss - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf A hearing aid is recommended if the SRT is more than 25 dB or the word recognition score is less than 80% at presentation levels of 50 dB above ...

7. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9747083/

Impact on Hearing Due to Prolonged Use of Audio Devices Using a 10 dB attenuation of hearing at one test frequency as a positive result, 40% of the subjects had evidence of noise-induced hearing loss.

8. who.int who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/deafness-and-hearing-loss-safe-listening

Deafness and hearing loss: Safe listening You can safely listen to a sound level of 80dB for up to 40 hours a week. If the sound level is 90dB, the safe listening time reduces to four hours per week.