ABSTRACT
Hearing aids (HA) are a key part of audiological rehabilitation, and provide amplification of sound that can be tuned to an individual’s hearing loss to increase audibility. Anyone with a hearing loss might be considered a candidate for HAs, since HAs had the potential to offer benefit by providing access to environmental and speech sounds that would otherwise be missed. While HA technology is continually improving, HAs cannot fully compensate for hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is most commonly associated with cochlear damage. For bilateral hearing loss it is usual to prescribe HAs binaurally, although this depends on the individual’s preference, listening needs, management of aids and any contraindications. HAs may be selected from a range of styles and types on the basis of power, technical features, comfort, cost and appearance/ cosmetic appeal. The HA is programmed by the audiologist to fit a particular hearing loss according to a frequency-dependent prescription using information from the audiogram.
