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Hearing Aids for Veterans With Functional Hearing Difficulties

Evaluating Device-based Rehabilitation for Veterans With Functional Hearing Difficulties: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Who can join

Ages 18 to 79 · All sexes

Inclusion Criteria:

* Veteran eligible for VA Healthcare
* Ability to travel to VA Portland Medical Center for repeated visits
* Pure-tone thresholds of no more than 30 dB HL at frequencies between 500 and 3000 Hz, and no more than 40 dB HL at 4000 Hz
* HHIA scores of 24 or greater indicating moderate to significant perceived hearing handicap

Exclusion Criteria:

* Conductive hearing loss or other significant otologic problems
* Non-native English speakers
* Inability to perform experimental tasks
* Pure-tone interaural threshold asymmetries greater than 15 dB between 250 and 4000 Hz

About the study

Every year, approximately 100,000 Veterans seek help at VA Audiology clinics for hearing and communication difficulties only to learn that they have normal hearing sensitivity. Unfortunately, there are very few established options to improve hearing and listening for these patients. To address this need, audiologists are increasingly prescribing hearing aids set to provide a small amount of amplification. Patients may benefit from the amplification or from modern hearing aid features such as noise reduction technology and the ability to stream sounds from a desired sound source directly to their ears thus reducing the background noise. This project will help to determine if prescribing hearing aids to patients without hearing loss is, in fact, beneficial and if so, why. It will also help to determine if some patients benefit more from hearing aids than others so that in the future, rehabilitation strategies can be better targeted toward individuals.

What is being tested

• Communication Counseling (behavioral)
• Hearing Aids (device)
• Remote Microphones (device)

Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Participants: 142 · Started: Mar 9, 2025

Contact the study team

• Melissa A Papesh, PhD · Phone: (503) 220-8262

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT06117254

Locations in the U.S.

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Oct 2, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.