Amplification and Tinnitus Masker Performance and Benefit for Adults With Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
NCT ID: NCT07298499
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
NA
100 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2025-07-07
2027-12-31
Brief Summary
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The use of well-fit amplification alone improves participants' ability to hear and improves tinnitus symptoms as compared to unaided conditions.
The use of well-fit amplification in conjunction with a tinnitus masker improves participants' ability to hear and improves tinnitus symptoms as compared to unaided conditions.
Participants will be fit with hearing aids for 6 months and a tinnitus masker will be activated at the 3-month mark of the study. Outcome measures will evaluate device performance and participant benefit from the devices throughout the study duration.
Detailed Description
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Participants will be fit with hearing aids by a licensed research audiologist. Hearing aid fittings will be verified using real-ear measurements and performance will be evaluated by the response accuracy compared to hearing aid prescriptive targets. Participants will first be fit with only amplification for 3 months. The participants will wear the hearing aids regularly in the field and return to the research facility at several intervals to complete measures of hearing aid performance and listening tasks.
At the three-month mark, a tinnitus masker will be turned on through the participant's hearing aids. The masker will be adjusted to participant preferences for sound quality and masker output will be captured using real-ear measurements. The participants will then wear the hearing aids with a tinnitus masker enabled for 3 months and return to the research facility at several intervals to complete measures of hearing aid performance and listening perception tasks.
Through this study the following hypotheses will be tested:
The use of well-fit amplification alone improves participants' ability to hear and improves tinnitus symptoms as compared to unaided conditions.
The use of well-fit amplification in conjunction with an ear-level tinnitus masker improves participants' ability to hear and improves tinnitus symptoms.
According to the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association, "fitting and monitoring the use of tinnitus maskers, hearing aids, or other ear-level sound generators" are all acceptable management techniques for tinnitus. However, there is not guidance on the order of management strategies. In the ASHA guidance and peer-reviewed literature, there is no evidence of patient characteristics that indicate the patient will benefit from one intervention over another. There is previous research that indicates well- fit hearing aids providing amplification alone improves tinnitus symptoms in individuals with hearing loss and tinnitus. Widely accepted tinnitus management programs -- Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, Progressive Tinnitus Management, and Tinnitus Activities Treatment-- recommend the use of tinnitus masking devices in addition to amplification as a component of tinnitus management for individuals with hearing loss and tinnitus . In randomized controlled studies, it has been found that participants with tinnitus showed equal improvement with tinnitus symptoms when fit with amplification only and when fit with amplification and sound masker devices when compared to no intervention. These studies indicate improvement in tinnitus with intervention versus no intervention. The present study will continue this line of research with participants wearing hearing aids with amplification alone and hearing aids with amplification and a tinnitus masker.
For this study, all participants will first be fit with hearing aids providing amplification only for 3 months and then the tinnitus masker will be enabled in the hearing aids for the second half of the study. This study design was chosen due to the inability to blind the participant or researcher from the intervention and because it mimics many patients' experiences with clinical protocols. The study design also reduces the potential ethical concern of providing the tinnitus masker and removing it as the researchers may be withholding an effective tinnitus management tool after the participant has already grown accustomed to it. When the tinnitus masker is enabled at the 3-month mark, the participants will continue to have access to an amplification only program they can navigate to with their hearing aids. The participants will be encouraged to remain in the tinnitus masker program as much as possible.
The study hypotheses will be tested by comparing clinical benefit questionnaires against normative data or quantifying minimal clinically important differences from unaided to aided conditions for individual participants. Performance of amplification and tinnitus maskers will be verified using real-ear measurements and will confirm the safety of the hearing aids and tinnitus maskers by following the participants for 6 months.
Conditions
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Keywords
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Study Design
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NA
SINGLE_GROUP
TREATMENT
NONE
Study Groups
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Amplification with or without masker
Amplification alone or amplification plus tinnitus masker
Hearing Aid
Inclusion of hearing aid or not for listening
Tinnitus Masker
Inclusion of tinnitus masker in device
Interventions
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Hearing Aid
Inclusion of hearing aid or not for listening
Tinnitus Masker
Inclusion of tinnitus masker in device
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
Native English speaking (defined that all education was done in English)
Bilateral hearing impairment ranging from mild to profound
Mild to severe tinnitus
Ability to commute to research facility
Exclusion Criteria
Visible deformity of the ear, either congenital or traumatic
Fluid, pus, or blood coming out of the ear within the previous 6 months
Pain or discomfort in the ear
History of excessive ear wax or suspicion that something is in the ear canal
Dizziness, either recent or long-standing
Sudden, quickly worsening, or fluctuating hearing loss within the previous 6 months
Hearing loss or ringing (tinnitus) only in one ear or a noticeable difference in hearing between ears
Audiometric air-bone gap equal to or greater than 15 dB at 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 2000 Hz
Cognitive impairment
Tinnitus with a somatic origin indicating a need for medical treatment
Current user of noise masker delivered via a wearable device
Hyperacusis or extreme sensitivity to sounds
Is employed by the study sponsor
18 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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Starkey Laboratories, Inc
INDUSTRY
Responsible Party
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Principal Investigators
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Michelle Hicks, Ph.D.
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
VP Education and Audiology
Locations
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Starkey Satellite Research Facility Affordable Hearing Centers 6821 W 120th Ave Ste 2H, Broomfield, CO 80020
Broomfield, Colorado, United States
Countries
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References
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Tinnitus Retraining Therapy Trial Research Group; Scherer RW, Formby C. Effect of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy vs Standard of Care on Tinnitus-Related Quality of Life: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2019 Jul 1;145(7):597-608. doi: 10.1001/jamaoto.2019.0821.
Newman CW, Jacobson GP, Spitzer JB. Development of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1996 Feb;122(2):143-8. doi: 10.1001/archotol.1996.01890140029007.
Meikle MB, Henry JA, Griest SE, Stewart BJ, Abrams HB, McArdle R, Myers PJ, Newman CW, Sandridge S, Turk DC, Folmer RL, Frederick EJ, House JW, Jacobson GP, Kinney SE, Martin WH, Nagler SM, Reich GE, Searchfield G, Sweetow R, Vernon JA. The tinnitus functional index: development of a new clinical measure for chronic, intrusive tinnitus. Ear Hear. 2012 Mar-Apr;33(2):153-76. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e31822f67c0.
Jastreboff PJ, Jastreboff MM. Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) as a method for treatment of tinnitus and hyperacusis patients. J Am Acad Audiol. 2000 Mar;11(3):162-77.
Beck JE, Zaugg TL, Egge JL, Lima EN, Thielman EJ. Progressive Tinnitus Management at Two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers: Clinical Implementation With Modified Protocols. Am J Audiol. 2019 Apr 22;28(1S):162-173. doi: 10.1044/2018_AJA-TTR17-18-0040.
Myers PJ, Griest S, Kaelin C, Legro MW, Schmidt CJ, Zaugg TL, Henry JA. Development of a progressive audiologic tinnitus management program for Veterans with tinnitus. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2014;51(4):609-22. doi: 10.1682/JRRD.2013.08.0189.
Jastreboff PJ. Tinnitus retraining therapy. Prog Brain Res. 2007;166:415-23. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(07)66040-3.
Del Bo L, Ambrosetti U. Hearing aids for the treatment of tinnitus. Prog Brain Res. 2007;166:341-5. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(07)66032-4.
Cox RM, Alexander GC, Xu J. Development of the Device-Oriented Subjective Outcome (DOSO) scale. J Am Acad Audiol. 2014 Sep;25(8):727-36. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.25.8.3.
Cox RM, Alexander GC. The abbreviated profile of hearing aid benefit. Ear Hear. 1995 Apr;16(2):176-86. doi: 10.1097/00003446-199504000-00005.
Preferred Practice Patterns for the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. ASHA Suppl. 1993 Mar;35(3 Suppl 11):i-viii, 1-102. No abstract available.
Other Identifiers
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PMCF2025
Identifier Type: OTHER
Identifier Source: secondary_id
StarkeyPMCF2025
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id