TY - JOUR
T1 - The benefits of hearing aids for adults
T2 - a systematic umbrella review
AU - Tang, Diana
AU - Tran, Yvonne
AU - Bennett, Rebecca J.
AU - Lo, Charles
AU - Lee, Jien Nien
AU - Turner, Jessica
AU - Gopinath, Bamini
PY - 2025/1/24
Y1 - 2025/1/24
N2 - Objectives: This umbrella review aims to summarize the major benefits of hearing aid usage in adults by synthesizing findings from published review articles. Design: A comprehensive search of databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar, was conducted. The search was limited to English-language review articles published between 1990 and 2023, focusing on hearing aid outcomes in at least 5 adults (aged ≥18 years). Two researchers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles, and conducted a quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses. A third researcher was involved in discussions with the 2 researchers to resolve conflicts during the screening and quality assessment stages. Results: Eleven articles were included in this review. There were three systematic reviews with meta-analysis and eight systematic reviews without meta-analysis. The quality assessment indicated that articles scored between 6 and 11 out of a total of 11 criteria. Three articles met all quality criteria. Study participants tended to be middle-aged (≥40 years) or older adults (≥65 years). Participant gender was less clear as this was not consistently reported but appeared to favor men. This umbrella review found that speech perception, communication function, hearing handicap, and self-assessed hearing aid benefit were consistently positively associated with hearing aid use in the analysis of included studies. Hearing handicap was the most frequently reported outcome with evidence from four different studies supporting its mitigation with hearing aid use. There was insufficient evidence in terms of benefit on balance, cognitive function, depression, tinnitus, loneliness, and social isolation. There was conflicting evidence on the impact of hearing aid use on quality of life. Among eligible studies, there were no reports of negative impacts of hearing aid use. Conclusions: There are a number of potential benefits associated with hearing aid use. However, this review found that there was a clear lack of high-quality evidence and limited use of robust study design to support the benefits of hearing aids on other outcomes such as quality of life and cognition. Inconsistent use and interpretation of various outcome measures makes it difficult to produce homogenous data which is needed to make more conclusive statements about the benefits of hearing aids.
AB - Objectives: This umbrella review aims to summarize the major benefits of hearing aid usage in adults by synthesizing findings from published review articles. Design: A comprehensive search of databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar, was conducted. The search was limited to English-language review articles published between 1990 and 2023, focusing on hearing aid outcomes in at least 5 adults (aged ≥18 years). Two researchers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles, and conducted a quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses. A third researcher was involved in discussions with the 2 researchers to resolve conflicts during the screening and quality assessment stages. Results: Eleven articles were included in this review. There were three systematic reviews with meta-analysis and eight systematic reviews without meta-analysis. The quality assessment indicated that articles scored between 6 and 11 out of a total of 11 criteria. Three articles met all quality criteria. Study participants tended to be middle-aged (≥40 years) or older adults (≥65 years). Participant gender was less clear as this was not consistently reported but appeared to favor men. This umbrella review found that speech perception, communication function, hearing handicap, and self-assessed hearing aid benefit were consistently positively associated with hearing aid use in the analysis of included studies. Hearing handicap was the most frequently reported outcome with evidence from four different studies supporting its mitigation with hearing aid use. There was insufficient evidence in terms of benefit on balance, cognitive function, depression, tinnitus, loneliness, and social isolation. There was conflicting evidence on the impact of hearing aid use on quality of life. Among eligible studies, there were no reports of negative impacts of hearing aid use. Conclusions: There are a number of potential benefits associated with hearing aid use. However, this review found that there was a clear lack of high-quality evidence and limited use of robust study design to support the benefits of hearing aids on other outcomes such as quality of life and cognition. Inconsistent use and interpretation of various outcome measures makes it difficult to produce homogenous data which is needed to make more conclusive statements about the benefits of hearing aids.
KW - Adult
KW - Benefit
KW - Hearing aid
KW - Outcome
KW - Review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85217040890&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001620
DO - 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001620
M3 - Review article
C2 - 39849317
AN - SCOPUS:85217040890
SN - 0196-0202
JO - Ear and Hearing
JF - Ear and Hearing
ER -