Recruiting

Hearing Devices

Sponsor:

University of Southern California

Code:

NCT06781749

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Bilateral (Causes Other Than Tumors)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 60+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Hearing aid use

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if hearing devices, like hearing aids, affect social and cognitive function of older adults. The main questions the researchers want to answer are:

  • How social are older adults with hearing loss before and after using hearing devices?
  • How well do older adults with hearing loss think before and after using hearing devices?
  • For older adults who have hearing loss and use hearing devices, do changes in social interaction explain changes in how well they think (cognitive function)?
  • Do brainwaves (EEGs) in older adults with hearing loss change after using hearing devices?
  • Are there differences in how social older adults with hearing loss are compared to older adults without hearing loss?

What Participants Will Do:

  • Participants will take questionnaires for around 60 minutes. Questionnaires will ask participants about their background, health, hearing, and how social they are. Another set of questionnaires will check their thinking ability or cognition.
  • Participants will wear an audio sensor (TILES Audio Recorder on Jelly Mobile phone) for 2 weeks. The sensor will collect and store information about a participant's voice during conversations. Once the device has information about a participant's voice such as pitch and tone it will store this information and delete the audio recording. Words spoken during conversations will be deleted.
  • (Optional) Participants can choose to participate in a 45-60-minute EEG (electroencephalogram) recording session. Participants will have sensors placed on top of their heads. Sensors will record the participants' brainwaves. Sounds will be played to see how participants' brainwaves change when they hear sounds. Eligible participants will be invited to participate in 4-month follow-up study.

Conditions

Hearing Loss, Bilateral (Causes Other Than Tumors)

Study ID

NCT06781749

Start date

Jan 1, 2026

Status verified date

May, 2026

Completion date

Jun 30, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 30, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 60+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age >= 60 years
  • English or Spanish speaking
  • Group 1- older adults with normal hearing defined as speech frequency PTA <25dB HL in bilateral ears
  • Group 2- older adults with bilateral hearing loss who are not using hearing aids
  • Group 3- older adults with bilateral hearing loss, who are currently using hearing aids

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age <60 years
  • Unable to complete questionnaires in English or Spanish

Study Design

Enrollment

100 participants

Anticipated

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

Adults with bilateral hearing loss (hearing aid users)

Participants with bilateral hearing loss (defined as those with speech-frequency pure-tone average >=25 dB HL bilaterally) and currently using hearing aids.

Adults without hearing loss

Hearing loss defined as speech-frequency pure-tone average >=25 dB HL bilaterally

Adults with hearing loss (non-hearing aid users)

Participants with bilateral hearing loss (defined as those with speech-frequency pure-tone average >=25 dB HL bilaterally) and not currently using hearing aids.

Interventions

Hearing aid use

Hearing aid use will be discussed with all eligible participants with hearing loss and will be encouraged to pursue hearing aid fitting through standard clinical indications via participants' insurance and audiologists.

Primary outcome measure

  • Audio sensor- speech activity [ Time Frame: Baseline and 4-month after hearing aid use ]
  • Audio sensor- speech arousal [ Time Frame: Baseline, 4-month after hearing aid use ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Janet Choi, MD, MPH

323-442-5790janet.choi@med.usc.edu

Locations

Los Angeles General Medical Center

Recruiting

Los Angeles, California, United States, 90033

Contacts

Janet Choi, MD, MPH

323-442-5790janet.choi@med.usc.edu

University of Southern California

Recruiting

Los Angeles, California, United States, 90066

Contacts

Janet Choi, MD, MPH

323-442-5790janet.choi@med.usc.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Southern California

Last update posted

May 11, 2026

Last verified

May, 2026

Keywords

  • hearing loss
  • hearing aids
  • cognition
  • dementia

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Southern California on 2026-05-11.