Hearing Aids Can Reduce Listening Effort in School-Age Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

This is the first study to demonstrate that hearing aids reduce listening effort in noisy conditions in school-age children who are hard of hearing. Dual-task results were sensitive to changes in effort when listening in noise, but not in quiet. Subjective measures were sensitive to changes in effort in quiet, but not in noise. The present study makes a novel and important contribution to the literature on listening effort in school-age children who are hard of hearing. The results of this study support consistent hearing aid use in children who are hard of hearing, as we demonstrated that hearing aids provide benefits beyond auditory access.