Hearing Aid User Survey for 2026

I have just filled out the hearing aid survey. You are missing a very important section to this survey. At the end of the survey, you should have asked - is there anything that you would like to see improved - from either the hearing aid manufacturer or the audiologist?

I wanted to add in this bit - to the end of that survey.

The most important function of hearing aids is to enable people to hear what other people are saying. Speech is the most important thing. Nowadays a lot of audiologist don’t do REM (my new audiologist does not), while he does do an isetu. This issue is a whole discussion amongst many on this forum - Is REM a gold standard or is insetu all that is needed providing you have a very good audiologist - which mine definitely is. I don’t want to get into that discussion - but I highlight it to make a point in that there seems to be no audiologist standards that should be met?

Anyway, to get to my actual point.

I have just bought brand new hearing aids (Oticon Intent 1) and have been to my audiologist for fitting and 2 appointments since. In that time, he has managed to fix virtually all my issues, so I am very pleased with him as he is considerably better than my old audiologist who took 8 months to get to the same point! I am now left with one more issue - which is the hardest issue.

I am currently doing a log of any words that I mishear - to identify what letters/sounds I am not hearing properly or not at all or where the sound is not 100% right as I am not hearing the whole sound fully. There are not many, but I have already been able to identify that I need a slight boost in the soft/moderate input for some frequencies.

In short, as speech is basically the whole reason that people buy hearing aids - I am surprised that virtually no audiologists seem to go to the depth of focusing on - does this person hear p, k, m or open vowel sounds correctly etc? I am not just talking about word speech recognition tests, but a more scientific process (using AI) to identify exactly what speech sounds are not quite 100% even when you have a good audio who has got me 98% of the way there!

I would like hearing aid manufacturers and audiologists to develop some kind of scientific testing system (at different volume levels with both male/female voices) to help people like me identify what sounds/letters/consonants/fricatives etc we are still experiencing issues with. I have just got my hearing aids like a month ago and he has already addressed pretty much every issue I had - so he is really good, but getting this very final stage of tweaking is something that no audiologist seems to have a scientific process for!

I will ask my audio if he can resolve my very last issue, but given that no audiologist offer this out of the box, it just seems like a massive failure on the part of the industry, given that the entire point of a hearing aid is to help people hear speech!

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I feel very strongly that this issue is not adequately addressed in a scientific way - it’s more guesswork on the part of the audiologist.

Oh and please add to your survey - an option to allow people to make comments like this on their survey! Thank you

@Roberto said:

At the end of the survey, you should have asked - is there anything that you would like to see improved - from either the hearing aid manufacturer or the audiologist?

Absolutely. I believe something like this is in fact asked at the very end, but it could be formulated more clearly.

To quote Alan Greenspan: "I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

Is there a question as to the language that the HA user primarily uses?
My unsubstantiated guess is that language phonetics may make a noticeable difference as to how well hearing aids work for specific languages.

Stopped completing survey because it did not accept a $1600 answer for HAs from Costco, and $0 from the VA

@user777 said:

Stopped completing survey because it did not accept a $1600 answer for HAs from Costco, and $0 from the VA

Update: I just tested both scenarios. Works ok. The field requires a number and won’t accept a dollar sign. Maybe that was the issue?

Could have entered 1600, and 0? Those are the numbers for Costco and VA for my only HAs ever.

Only enter data for your latest hearing aids… I will clarify that in the question.

Update: I added a lot of hints to relevant questions about focusing on your current / latest hearing aids for people who are longer time wearers.

@AbramBaileyAuD, that’s indeed interesting. Since you did this in an academic setting (I assume…), is any of this available to the public? For example sound files used for testing or any papers that were published as a result of this?

To be honest with you, I don’t even know. It was many years ago and I was merely a research assistant

There wasn’t one on my survey. I got most multiple choice options and only one or two free text boxes (which were in the middle of the survey)

Phonak has their Phoneme Perception Test Phoneme Perception Test | Phonak14

I have yet to hear of anybody using it. I think the perpetual issue is that additional testing takes time and there is little, if any evidence that it is of benefit.

At survey’s end, should it not direct persons back to this website…
I did not know to exit or to hit the back arrow upper left…made the right choice by accident.

Results so far from 15 people who have reached the last question:

Summary

The survey responses highlight a range of areas where users feel their hearing aid experience could be improved, including battery options, professional service quality, technological enhancements, and specific features to address challenges like speech in noise and tinnitus. There is a clear desire for advancements in hearing aid technology and better support services.

Key Themes

• Battery Preferences and Longevity: Respondents expressed a preference for disposable over rechargeable batteries, alongside a desire for longer battery life and the option to have replaceable batteries in high-end models.
• Professional Services and Support: There is a call for more skilled and knowledgeable practitioners, better fitting experiences, and improved customer support, including responsive tech support and sensitivity training for staff.
• Technological Enhancements and Features: Users are looking for better connectivity (especially with Bluetooth and smartphones), improved speech recognition in noisy environments, and additional features like tinnitus management and hearing aid invisibility.
• Insurance and Cost Concerns: Better insurance coverage for hearing aids and more affordable accessories were mentioned as areas needing improvement.
• Desire for Personalization and Innovation: Respondents wish for more personalized fitting processes, the use of hearing tests with aids in situ, and are hopeful for future improvements through AI and other technological advancements.

Sentiment Analysis

• Positive: 10%
• Neutral: 30%
• Negative: 60%

The majority of the responses lean towards a negative sentiment, reflecting dissatisfaction with current hearing aid experiences, particularly around battery life, professional services, and technological limitations. Neutral sentiments are present in suggestions and hopeful remarks about future improvements, while positive sentiments are scarce, mostly related to appreciating incremental advancements and specific features like tinnitus management.

Surprised to see this progress report.
Figure such feedback affect future responses. Might they be more self critical, more attuned to one or another factor, that otherwise they might not have weighted, and could the awareness of sentiment being 60% negative, lead to piling on that, or defending the minority of positives.