A study of private hearing aid users in London.

A pilot study of 40 hearing aid users sampled directly from private hearing aid dispensers' records is described. Some comparisons are made between this sample and (a) 37 private hearing aid users who had sought help from the RNID Hearing Aid Advisory Service, and (b) 58 NHS hearing aid clinic patients who also possessed a private hearing aid. The main objective was to discover people's reasons for buying a hearing aid rather than obtaining one free of charge from the NHS. The reasons given were found to be mainly those of range of design and choice of hearing aids in addition to some advantages in the type of service offered by private hearing aid dispensers.