What Do Audiologists Think of OTC Hearing Aids
The FDA’s new rules for OTC hearing aids, announced on August 16, promise sweeping changes for hearing healthcare, creating a new class of more affordable and accessible hearing aids. Hearing aids within this category can be sold online and in stores directly to consumers who have perceived mild to moderate hearing loss without a medical exam or a fitting by a licensed provider.
As a Doctor of Audiology myself, I was curious to see what my colleagues thought of OTC hearing aids as they become widely available. What are the primary risks to consumers? And, do audiologist plan to support the hearing health of those who purchase OTC hearing aids? About a week after the FDA announcement, I ran a quick survey to better understand the primary objections held by audiologists.
Objections ranked
Here is a list of the objections we asked about, ranked from strongest to weakest. A rating close to 5 indicates that most people selected "Strongly agree" while a rating close to 3 indicates more people selected "Neither agree or disagree" or that there was more polarization on the Likert scale.
 "Primary objections held by audiologists")
Selling and servicing OTC hearing aids
Based on the results, audiologists seem fairly open to selling and servicing OTC hearing aids with 26% stating that they plan to sell OTC hearing aids in their clinics or on their websites. And 55% indicated that they plan to support patients with OTC hearing aids purchased elsewhere.
Best practice care
We asked respondents how strongly they agreed with this statement: "Best practice audiological care is more important now that consumers can purchase OTC devices". To my surprise, this was the single most strongly agreed upon statement in the entire survey, with a rating of 4.54.
And a whopping 87% of respondents told us that they "employ best practices or plan to improve [their] standard of care". I'm personally super excited to see audiology live up to its potential, and see this as one very strong positive thing to come out of OTC for our profession, and for the consumer.
The full results
As you will see from the full results, the majority of responses came from audiologists working in independent private practice and in ENT practices. We plan to do a more thorough analysis of the results soon, with the help of a statistician, and will share that in a follow up email. Rest assured, your email will not be shared with anyone.
About the participants
We received 730 responses in total, with the vast majority coming from audiologists within the United States. Participants were recruited from two audiology-related Facebook groups, my personal LinkedIn connections, and HearingTracker's pro newsletter list. All data was collected between August 19-23, 2022
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As a long time hearing aid user with moderate to profound hearing loss I understand the important role that audiologists play. What you overlook is the 80% of people who could benefit from hearing aids, but refuse to use them for one reason or another. OTC hearing aids will reach many in that subgroup. The industry failed to address its pricing, products, and promotions to reach that subgroup. Demand for this product has finally stepped in and bypassed the audiologist. I am sorry to see that, but the audiologists can only blame themselves for this failure. Audiologists should now embrace OTC hearing aids and help this program to move forward.
Before I got HAs I had some ideas I was hard of hearing but it wasn't until I discovered the Spotify app on my android phone had an equalizer function that included customization with a hearing test. After I did the test and saw the "audiogram" I decided to try an actual hearing test app.
The app showed hearing loss so I began the process of going through Veteran's Affairs and went to an audiologist.
My take on this sort of tech is based on this experience. I believe a successful OTC HA product would probably start with the user putting them in and running a test suite on their phone that would then program them based on the results.
I can see the benefit of this since I know a few people who need them but can't afford them. Even with some help from government and work benefits, the outlay is a lot of money for people. OTC HAs might help with this.
On the other hand my biggest fear is that this new tech will result in VAC cutting myself and others off. For them they may decide that at least some of us can "make do" with OTC HAs instead of REAL HAs fitted by a professional.
I've tried to be excited about OTC aids, but I've given up. reason: Fitting hearing aids can seem like trying to hit a moving target without REM.
When I was fitted for glasses, I had to look through a device until I determined which one let me read the letters most clearly. Well, without REM, its like the optometrist is guessing at which one is the best, and saying "well, you can see the chart, that's fine, it doesn't matter which one let's you see best." (how silly that would be).
So, don't buy OTC! I finally found one in my area that is 35 mi. away which does REM. So, that's where I'm going next week for my 45-day trial of the Phonak 30R (for a cost of $2200 (minus $1200 from my Advantage plan))