By Moidu Arif Ali, student of the Master in Clinical Audiology and Hearing Therapy

Abstract

Hearing aids are an established intervention for tinnitus, particularly with coexisting hearing loss, yet data on Indian audiologists’ clinical practices remain limited. This cross-sectional survey, using convenience sampling, examined perceptions and practice patterns of hearing aid use for tinnitus management among 102 practicing Indian audiologists. A purpose-developed 32-item Likert-scale questionnaire spanning seven domains (attitudes, pre-fitting assessment, fitting strategy, outcome monitoring, training, barriers, and satisfaction) demonstrated excellent content validity (S-CVI/Ave = 0.969; k* = 0.938) and internal consistency (α = 0.950). Overall, 86.4% of responses reflected agreement, indicating strongly favorable attitudes, with high confidence in counseling and early recommendation (92.2% each). Pure-tone audiometry was near-universal pre-fitting (98.0%), but standardized outcome tools (THI/TFI) were used less consistently, both before fitting (75.5%) and during monitoring (76.5%), with clinicians relying mainly on subjective patient feedback (88.2%). A notable gap emerged between self-perceived clinical competence (84.3% agreement) and completion of formal tinnitus-specific training (71.6% agreement), the latter also showing the highest disagreement rate (12.7%) in the survey. Cost of hearing aids (92.2%) and clinical time constraints (75.5%) were the leading barriers, and 96.1% of respondents endorsed the need for India-specific clinical guidelines. Findings indicate that while Indian audiologists hold favorable views of hearing aids for tinnitus management, standardized assessment and outcome-monitoring practices, formal training, and structured, cost-sensitive protocols remain priority areas for clinical and policy development.

Keywords: Tinnitus, Tinnitus management, Hearing aids, Audiologists, Clinical practice patterns, Survey, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI), Sound therapy.

Download the full Research Work: Moidu Arif Ali (2026). Role of Hearing Aids in Tinnitus Management – A Survey Among Audiologists Working in India. SAERA