Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids Challenge the Core Values of Traditional Audiology

Abstract

Purpose: Regulatory changes in the United States introduced over-the-count(OTC) hearing aids with the goal of increasing the accessibility and affordabof hearing health care. It is critical to understand the values inherent to hehealth care systems to evaluate their effectiveness in serving people with hing difficulty. In this study, we evaluated the relative importance of valacross service delivery models and the extent to which the introduction of hearing aids represents a values shift relative to traditional audiology. Method: We performed a qualitative content analysis of two document cateries: critique documents that motivated the creation of OTC hearing aids regulatory documents that defined OTC hearing aids. Team members codportions of text for the values they expressed. In total, 29,235 words coded across 72 pages in four documents. Rank-order analyses were pformed to determine the prioritization of values within each category of doments and subsequently compare values between OTC and traditional audiogy documents analyzed in a previous study. Results: Critique and regulatory documents both prioritized values related reducing barriers to hearing aid access and use, but the lack of a signifcorrelation in the rank order of values in these documents was evidence inconsistency between the motivation and implementation of OTC hearing aiDifferences in the rank order of values in the OTC documents compared to ditional audiology were consistent with a values shift. Conclusions: The introduction of OTC as a solution to low hearing aid use resents a values shift, challenging the values of traditional audiology. Tresearch demonstrates a need to establish the values of hearing health cservice delivery through a consensus of stakeholders, including individuals frodiverse backgrounds underserved by the traditional model.