Efficacy of Hearing Aids in Patients with Hearing Difficulties in Noise: Focus on Hidden Hearing Loss

<b>Objectives:</b> Hearing aids (HAs) have been used for standard high-frequency hearing loss and tinnitus, but their effects on speech intelligibility in noise (SIN) in people with normal hearing, including hidden hearing loss (HHL), have been little explored. <b>Methods:</b> We included in a prospective cohort study patients who experience poor SIN and have normal pure tone average in quiet conditions or slight HL. We used open-fit HAs. The FraMatrix test was used to explore SIN. The benefit of HAs in daily situations and for tinnitus was evaluated. <b>Results:</b> Forty patients were explored, including 12 with HHL. FraMatrix and quality of life improved significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.001) with HAs, especially in those with HHL (2.0 dB SNR of speech recognition threshold improvement). HAs also effectively suppress tinnitus. Participants used HAs 9.9 h per day. <b>Conclusions:</b> This study shows an improvement of SIN with HAs in patients with slight HL but more importantly in patients with HHL.