ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether contrasts between situations of good and difficult listening experiences could be identified in objective hearing aid (HA) data, with the aim to use these insights for personalisation of hearing care. DESIGN: The participants were asked to fill out an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) report every time they encountered a good or difficult listening experience for a period of two weeks. During EMA reporting, the participants described their listening environment and why it was difficult while objective HA data describing the sound environment, activated HA features and gain were logged. STUDY SAMPLE: Sixteen experienced HA users completed the study. RESULTS: The group level objective HA data indicated that participants experienced difficulties in typical speech in noise environments. Data from 14/16 participants showed individual contrasts that were not seen on the group level, indicating that hearing challenges do not manifest themselves the same across persons. CONCLUSIONS: The objective data from real-life experiences add to our understanding of the difficulty of the situation. The fact that data between individuals varied so much emphasises the importance of considering each person as an individual when treating their hearing loss.
