Treatment efficacy: hearing aids in the management of hearing loss in adults.

Hearing impairment in adults is a prevalent chronic condition, associated with psychosocial and quality-of-life handicaps. Recent investigations have demonstrated that individuals with handicapping hearing impairments do indeed benefit from the rehabilitative services offered by audiologists, with the primary intervention being hearing aid provision. My objective here is to review the experimental research, program evaluation data, and case studies documenting the efficacy of hearing aids, with an emphasis on the functional and communicative benefits accruing from hearing aid use. It is hoped that the information contained herein will provide clinicians with outcome data to share with the hearing impaired, toward the goal of encouraging such individuals to take advantage, at least for a trial period, of one of the many technologies available to assist them to function better in their daily lives.