Studies have shown that persons using hearing aids report fewer depressive feelings, richer social relationships, and a higher quality of life than those who do not.

The study, published in the February 2003 issue of The Hearing Journal, begins by briefly reviewing the potential impact of a hearng loss upon a person’s quality of life (broadly defined). While this may appear to be obvious, even people who personally suffer from a hearing loss often underestimate its full impact.

Studies have shown that in addition to the communicative problems wrought by a hearing loss, people with hearing loss report greater social and emotional problems than those with normal hearing. The hearing loss may affect a person’s self-esteem and influence social satisfaction. Additionally, there is a greater incidence of health-related problems (such as high blood pressure and cardiac-related problems) amoung people with hearing loss than among normally hearing pecple of a comparable age.

Tbere is nothing surprising here; this has been well known for years. Also pretty well known is the fact that amplification (hearing aids) can help reduce these effects. Studies have shown that persons using hearing aids report fewer depressive feelings, richer social relationsbtps. and a higher quality of life than those who do not. The fact that hearing aids can help communication and §ocial functioning and improve one’s emotional state is not surprising (it would be odd if hearing aids did not help in this way).

What this study investigated, however, was whether the addition of a personal FM (radio hearing aid) system to the hearing aid condition can further decrease the impact of a hearing loss, beyond which occurs with a hearing aid alone. What a personal FM system does is provide people with hearing loss with a "third" (or "remote") ear -- one that they can locate closer to the source of sounds than the two ears fixed on our heads.

Research Findings

Two groups of ten older subjects participated in the study, one group at the University of Florida and the other at Washington University School of Medicine. They were all fitted with personal behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids (the Phonak Claro), under which a small FM receiver was plugged. Each person also received the HandyMic FM microphone/transmitter (about the size-and-half the width of an eyeglass case). A quality of life questionnaire (testing psychosocial and functional health status) was administered prior to the FM/HA fitting and after one month of use.

The results, in accordance with previous studies, do show that amplification improves quality of life. But we already know this; what the investigators were trying to do was determine the value of adding the FM system to the hearing aid condition. In this respect, the results are somewhat ambiguous. Perhaps the FM made an additional contribution to the benefits accruing from hearing aid amplification alone and perhaps not. This was not clear from the study. However, as the author’s report, the study is still continuing.

I contacted the senior investigator (Dr. Samantha Lewis) and asked her for an update, which she graciously provided. The two sites have since tested a number of additional subjects and have also employed a number of additional hearing handicap scales. They analyzed the differences between the benefits accruing to just hearing aid usage alone compared to those obtained when an FM is also used. To date, they did not find any further improvement in quaIity of life measures when an FM system is added. Their reasoning for this negative result, which I concur with, is basically the reason I’m reviewing this study. (sometimes, it is as necessary to report what is not found as what is).

We know an FM system will increase the speech-to-noise ratio, and we know that this will increase speech perception performance. This is indisputable. But an FM system cannot help if a person does not use it, and use it whenever it is needed. According to the authors, the subjects in this study did not feel comfortable utilizing the FM system. They were aware that it would help in noisy restaurants and other noisy places, but they were hesitant in deploying it as a visible assistive listening device.

The problem here is not technology. The technology is available and it can help. But it cannot help if the person with a hearing loss is reluctant to be upfront about his or her communication needs.

According to Dr. Lewis, the next step in this study is to conduct a group program that will focus on FM use and assertiveness training. Its purpose would be encourage people with hearing loss to be more willing to "assert" their own listening requirements. It is possible for people to overcome their reluctance to employ a visible assistive listening device (like the personal FM microphone/transmitter) and to reap the benefits of improved listening performance. We see this all the time in SHHH meetings (where one must beware of multiple FM microphones being stuck in one’s face).

There is also no doubt in my mind that a persons quality of life will be enhanced if his or her listening performance improves, particularly in acoustically challenging conditions. I will be looking forward to the results of Dr. Lewis’s next study, after she and her colleagues have encouraged their subjects to be more assertive regarding their use of personal FM systems.

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Mark Ross, Ph.D., is an associate at the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) at the Lexington Conter, New York. This report is supported, in part, by GRANT #H133E980010 from the U.S. Department of Education, NIDRR, to the Lexington Center.
Mention of products or companies by the author does not indicate SHHH endorsement, nor should exclusion suggest disapproval. Since everyone's communication problems and needs vary, SHHH suggests consulting with your hearing health professional.