Understanding Hearing Difficulties

As people get older, they become more likely to have hearing difficulties in certain situations; for example, having conversations in public settings where there is naturally more noise. This can sometimes lead to isolation, depression, or even fatigue from the effort needed to communicate with others.

Challenges in Measuring Outcomes

Clinicians and researchers often do not use standardized outcome measures for hearing interventions that reflect patients' perceptions of real-life improvements.

The Report and Its Recommendations

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a committee of experts to identify a core set of outcomes and corresponding measures that researchers and clinicians should use each time they assess the effectiveness of hearing aids and other treatments in addressing hearing difficulties. The resulting report, Measuring Meaningful Outcomes for Adult Hearing Health Interventions, presents those outcomes and measures, as well as recommendations for promoting their use within the hearing health community.