NCT00261768

Efficacy of Digital Noise Reduction Strategies: A Hearing Aid Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 288 (actual)
• Sponsor: US Department of Veterans Affairs · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to see if noise reduction programs in digital hearing aids help patients hear better than hearing aids without these programs. We also want to know if we can predict how successful patients will be with hearing aids.

Detailed description

The first goal of this project is to examine the efficacy of digital hearing aids incorporating three noise reduction strategies (i.e., directional microphones alone vs. directional microphones with DSP noise reduction algorithm 1 vs. directional microphones with DSP noise reduction algorithm 2) in terms of both speech understanding outcomes and functional outcomes. The second goal is to identify individual characteristics that are predictive of successful functional outcomes with hearing aids. This study employs a multi-site, randomized, blinded, 2x2 factorial parallel group design. Three hundred subjects will be studied at three VA Medical Centers (Mountain Home, TN; Bay Pines, FL; and Los Angeles, CA) over a period of three years. Objective (word recognition ability and performance with degraded speech stimuli) subjective (self-assessment questionnaires, personality and depression assessments) and cost-effectiveness assessments will be measured for 4 randomized treatment groups receiving different digital hearing aid technology. Subjects will be randomly assigned to wear hearing aids with directional microphones alone or directional microphones with noise reduction algorithm 1 or directional microphones with noise reduction algorithm 2 for a period of 8 weeks. Subjects will complete post-testing after 8 weeks of hearing aid use.

Conditions

• Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Digital noise reduction

Timeline

• Start date: 2004-06-01
• Primary completion: 2006-12-01
• Completion: 2006-12-01
• First posted: 2005-12-05
• Last updated: 2010-03-23

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States