Advantages of a new miniature hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss

Objectives/Hypothesis: To evaluate the performance of a new, miniature, beh ind-the-ear hearing aid designed for individuals with mild to moderate high -frequency hearing loss who need an aid but are reluctant to try one. The a id is essentially invisible, leaves the ear canal open, and can be fit in l ess than 30 minutes without an ear impression. The cost is less than $500. Study Design: A 4-week trial of the aid in 63 ears (62 subjects) with mild to moderate bilateral hearing loss. Methods: A questionnaire was completed at the end of the study by each subject asking them to evaluate several fea tures of the aid (cosmesis, comfort, understanding speech, amplification, a nd so forth) and to compare their unaided performance in quiet and in noise with the test hearing aid, A rating scale of 1 to 10 was used, with 10 bei ng excellent and 1 poor. Results: Subjective improvement in understanding s peech in both quiet (5.8-->7.3) and noise (4.6-->5.9) occurred with the aid . Cosmesis, comfort, and appearance were highly rated (mean scores, > 8), C onclusions: This aid appears to have several features (comfort., cost, perf ormance, and cosmesis) that make it ideal as a first aid for patients with mild to moderate losses.