American Academy of Audiology Health-Related Quality of Life Benefits of Amplification for Adults with Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review Protocol

Background: This protocol outlines a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the evidence that hearing aid use versus non-use enhances the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of adults with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Purpose: The study has three aims: (1) to provide a graded recommendation regarding hearing aid use and its impact on HRQoL in adults with SNHL; (2) to assess the effects of hearing aid use on mental health, cognition, and balance within this group; and (3) to examine, through subgroup analyses, whether outcomes are influenced by variables such as patient age, degree of hearing loss, sex, amplification type, duration since fitting, or verification method. Methods and Analysis: Participants will be adults over 18 years with mild to profound SNHL. Only those living independently or in assisted living facilities will be included. Excluded are individuals in acute care, or living in skilled nursing facilities, or who are incarcerated.Amplification options include the following: hearing aid styles (behind the ear, in the ear, etc.), power sources (battery, rechargeable, solar), signal processing (analog or digital), microphone type (omnidirectional or directional), fitting (monaural or binaural), service delivery (audiologist fit or direct to consumer), and payment type (self-pay or free).The following databases will be searched: CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), Cochrane Library, EMBASE (via Ovid SP), MEDLINE (via Ovid SP), PubMed, Scopus, Citations Indexes of Web of Science, ISRCTN Registry, ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.The Covidence online platform will be utilized for evidence synthesis, which will include the selection of studies, quality assessment (using Cochrane’s Revised Risk-of-Bias Tool for Randomized Trials [RoB 2]), and data extraction for the meta-analyses. Ethics and Dissemination: No ethical issues are expected. Systematic reviews do not require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval because data for meta-analyses are available to the public and included studies have already gone through an IRB review. The protocol and findings of the systematic review will be presented at professional meetings and published in scientific journals.