Evaluation of the efficacy of a multimemory hearing aid.

Although multimemory hearing aids have theoretical advantages over conventional "single memory" hearing aids, research and clinical data are not available to support their efficacy. The present study reports on the usefulness of a commercially available multimemory hearing aid in daily listening situations. Nineteen elderly hearing-aid wearers were fitted with the Quattro Q8 hearing aid. A modified Simplex procedure was used to select the electroacoustic characteristics for each memory. Subjects wore the device home and reported their satisfaction with each memory on the hearing aid in different listening situations. Their impressions on the whole hearing aid and on the remote feature were also sampled. Although a majority of subjects showed preference for multimemory design, such observations may not be readily evident until after extended use of the device. Inconvenience and cost of the device may prohibit some hearing-impaired listeners from using the device.