Two hearing aids best

Hearing aid users prefer two hearing aids over a single device, according to studies. Two hearing aids make them better able to keep up with conversations than people wearing only one hearing aid.

Having tried both for limited time periods, 93 percent preferred using two hearing aids rather than one, according to a Dutch study. The study found that two hearing aids were superior in terms of speech recognition and sound discrimination. The findings were supported by a Swedish study, indicating an 18 percent improvement in speech recognition with two hearing aids, as compared to 13 percent improvement with a single hearing aid. Like the Dutch study participants, a majority of the Swedish participants preferred two hearing aids over one single aid. More than 60 percent in the Swedish study said that two hearing aids provided better hearing than one. The Dutch study with 214 participants was conducted by researchers at the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam. The Swedish study with 190 adult participants was conducted by Karolinska Instituttet in Stockholm. Source: Ear Hear 29(6); Auris