Comparing the benefits of hearing aids and cochlear implants in real-world listening environments

Comparing outcomes between patients with bilateral hearing aids (HAs), bilateral cochlear implants (CIs), and bimodal fittings (CI + HA) are difficult because of the variations in hearing performance between the different devices and patient groups. This may impact patient counselling, device selection, and hearing outcomes for listeners with more severe hearing loss. This study seeks to identify the factors impacting the listening abilities of adults fitted with bilateral HAs, bilateral CIs, and bimodal fittings in noisy environments by comparing outcomes from commonly used clinical tests and a new task that emphasises realistic listening in background noise. By identifying these limiting factors from a variety of tests, optimising hearing aid fittings, and comparing between device configuration groups, the study will help understand where hearing aid devices no longer meet satisfactory individual outcomes, and a cochlear implant may improve long-term performance. This approach pushes toward considering real-world outcomes through realistic test measures when informing clinical counsel and device implantation or configuration recommendations. As such, adults with hearing loss can receive more tailored advice that validates their daily listening concerns and clinicians are granted a better understanding of how to improve the quality of life for their clients.