Hearing aid owner dissatisfaction

[Brent Edwards <brent@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Following is some information on hearing aid owner dissatisfaction.
References are below.

>From an article published in 2000 on the hearing aid in the drawer
phenomenon, the top 20 reasons why hearing aid owners don't use their
hearing aids are:

1. Poor benefit
2. Background noise/noisy situations
3.Fit and comfort
4. Negative side effects of hearing aid
5. Price and cost of repairs
6. Don't need help
7. Hearing aid is broken
8. Sound quality is poor
9. Unspecified - do not wear
10. Volume control adjustment
11. Whistling and feedback
12. Nuisance/hassle/annoying
13. Poor service from dispenser
14. High-frequency loss not helped
15. Stigma of wearing hearing aids
16. Work in limited situations
17. Profound hearing loss not helped
18. Too loud
19. Battery life too short
20. Forget to use

In 1997, 16% of hearing aid owners did not use their aids. In 2000, 11% of
hearing aid owners did not use their aids.

Also, in a survey of 2428 hearing aid owners on what improvements they
wanted to their aids published in 2002, the following were the top 10
responses. The  percentage of people who rated highly the desirability of
these improvements is also shown.

1. (95%) Speech in noise
2. (88%) Better sound quality
3. (85%) Less whistling and buzzing
4. (84%) Lower price
5. (83%) More soft sounds
6. (82%) Longer lasting batteries
7. (82%) Work better with telephone
8. (81%) Speech in quiet
9. (81%) Loud sounds less painful
10. (78%) Better fit and comfort

--Brent

Kochkin, S. MarkeTrak V: Why my hearing aids are in the drawer: The consumer
's perspective, Hearing Journal, Vol. 53(2) February 2000, pp. 34-41.



Kochkin, S. MarkeTrak VI: 10-Year Customer Satisfaction Trends in the US
Hearing Instrument Market, The Hearing Review, Vol. 9(10) October 2002, pp.
14-25, 46.



Kochkin, S. MarkeTrak VI: Consumers Rate Improvements Sought in Hearing
Instruments, The Hearing Review, Vol. 9(11) November 2002, pp. 18-22.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Al Bregman" <al.bregman@mcgill.ca>
To: <AUDITORY@LISTS.MCGILL.CA>
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 6:43 PM
Subject: Re: Yet again on hearing aids


> Dear Tom,
>
> You wrote:
>
> > if we delete the science from hearing aid fitting, what
> do we have left other than
> > witch craft?
>
> We have the subjective reports of the patient as to which
> settings he or she prefers.  There may be other kinds of science
> relevant to this question, not just hearing science: for example
> psychology.  Too bad there aren't more studies as to the
> variables that lead to the "dresser drawer" solution, since this
> question is arguably the most important one that exists
> concerning the fitting of  hearing aids, because it's a question
> of the difference between some help and no help at all.
>
> Al
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <g_brennantg@TITAN.SFASU.EDU>
> To: "Al Bregman" <al.bregman@mcgill.ca>
> Cc: "AUDITORY" <auditory@lists.mcgill.ca>
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 11:05 AM
> Subject: Re: Yet again on hearing aids
>
>
> > Al, this is a bit out of context and not the original issue but
> a side issue
> > Barbara raised.  The iriginal issue had to do with harmonic
> fitting of hearing
> > aids.  I agree that fitting by formula never does better than
> get you somewhere
> > in the ball park but I would also point out that there are many
> hearing aids in
> > dresser drawers regardless of how they are fitted.  Be all that
> as it may, if we
> > delete the science from hearing aid fitting, what do we have
> left other than
> > witch craft?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> >
> > Tom Brennan  KD5VIJ, CCC-A/SLP, R/D - AU
> > web page http://titan.sfasu.edu/~g_brennantg/sonicpage.html
> >
> >
> >