Title: Building Clinical Decision Strategies When Every Patient Is Unique

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Time: 2:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Lyles-Porter Hall, Room 1028

Abstract:
For decades, pure-tone audiograms and quiet speech recognition tests have been the cornerstone of clinical assessment. However, in real-world listening, listeners must process a complex (and sometimes degraded) signal using their unique combination of spectral, temporal, and cognitive processing abilities. Advancements in hearing aid design have increased the number and complexity of signal processing features that can be manipulated during a hearing aid fitting, challenging the conventional approach of fitting to pure-tone thresholds. The overall goal of work in our laboratory is to better understand individual variability among older adult listeners in order to inform individualized hearing treatment. This presentation will review emerging assessments designed to better evaluate individual capabilities. We will also discuss the practical considerations of incorporating such methods into clinical practice.