Actively Recruiting
Hearing Aids for Veterans With Functional Hearing Difficulties
Led by VA Office of Research and Development · Updated on 2026-04-20
142
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
159 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
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.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Hearing Aids for Veterans With Functional Hearing Difficulties
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Veteran eligible for VA Healthcare
- Ability to travel to VA Portland Medical Center for repeated visits
- Pure-tone thresholds no greater than 30 dB HL at 500 to 3000 Hz and no greater than 40 dB HL at 4000 Hz
- Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults score of 24 or higher indicating moderate to significant perceived hearing handicap
You will not qualify if you...
- Conductive hearing loss or other significant ear problems
- Non-native English speakers
- Inability to perform study tasks
- Differences in pure-tone hearing thresholds between ears greater than 15 dB between 250 and 4000 Hz
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
Complete this quick 3-step screening to check your eligibility
Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR
Portland, Oregon, United States, 97207-2964
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
M
Melissa A Papesh, PhD
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
NONE
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Model
PARALLEL
Primary Purpose
TREATMENT
Number of Arms
3
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