The Hear Clear Study

September 11, 2026 updated by: Duke University

Hearing Aid Benefit in Adults With Self-Reported Hearing Difficulty Yet Normal Pure-Tone Audiograms (Duke sIRB)

The purpose of this study is to determine if hearing aid use helps adults with "normal" hearing on clinical hearing tests (i.e., pure-tone audiogram), but who report hearing trouble in everyday life. Another purpose is to understand what factors and hearing aid features provide the most help for these people.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Participants will be randomly assigned to a hearing aid group and asked to wear a pair of hearing aids with a certain setting for 4 weeks, take a 4-week break, then wear hearing aids with a different setting for 4 weeks. Participants will complete several hearing-related assessments before and after each trial of hearing aids and share their experiences with each hearing aid setting. This study includes four research visits at a research laboratory at Duke University or The Ohio State University.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

125

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
        • Duke University Medical Center
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Sherri L Smith, Au.D., Ph.D.
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • The Ohio State University
        • Contact:
          • Christina M Roup, Ph.D.
          • Phone Number: 614-247-8614
          • Email: roup.2@osu.edu
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Christina M Roup, Ph.D.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Are adults (≥18 years) presenting with "normal hearing" (pure-tone thresholds ≤25 dB HL from 250-4000 Hz) but hearing trouble (≥20 points on RHHI questionnaire)
  • Are willing to try amplification (i.e., hearing aids) for the first time
  • Can Read/write in American English
  • Have access to email, internet, and phone

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants with self-reported otologic history (e.g., ear surgery, ototoxic medications, middle-ear dysfunction, holes in ear drums)
  • Have moderate to severe traumatic brain injury
  • Have bothersome tinnitus as their primary complaint
  • Have a health condition that would interfere with study participation (e.g., dementia/cognitive disorder, blindness)
  • Prior hearing aid use

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Open-dome receiver-in-canal hearing aids
Air-conduction receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids with open domes, which have holes or vents that let natural sound and air pass into the ear canal.
Other: Signal-to-Noise Ratio Enhancement (SNR+)

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the open dome or closed dome group (Factor 1). Participants will then obtain their first treatment arm with a random assignment of either an SNR neutral (SNR-) or SNR enhanced (SNR+) hearing aid fitting (Factor 2). They will return to the lab for testing prior to crossing over to the second arm (the other SNR configuration: SNR- or SNR+).

The SNR+ setting contains features to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the sound to optimize speech over noise through the hearing aids.

Other: Signal-to-Noise Ratio Neutral (SNR-)

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the open dome or closed dome group (Factor 1). Participants will then obtain their first treatment arm with a random assignment of either an SNR neutral (SNR-) or SNR enhanced (SNR+) hearing aid fitting (Factor 2). They will return to the lab for unaided baseline testing prior to crossing over to the second arm (the other SNR configuration: SNR- or SNR+).

The SNR- setting contains focuses on improving audibility of sounds through the hearing aids.
Experimental: Closed-dome receiver-in-canal hearing aids
Air-conduction receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids with closed domes, which have solid rubber with tiny or no vents to seal the ear.
Other: Signal-to-Noise Ratio Enhancement (SNR+)

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the open dome or closed dome group (Factor 1). Participants will then obtain their first treatment arm with a random assignment of either an SNR neutral (SNR-) or SNR enhanced (SNR+) hearing aid fitting (Factor 2). They will return to the lab for testing prior to crossing over to the second arm (the other SNR configuration: SNR- or SNR+).

The SNR+ setting contains features to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the sound to optimize speech over noise through the hearing aids.

Other: Signal-to-Noise Ratio Neutral (SNR-)

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the open dome or closed dome group (Factor 1). Participants will then obtain their first treatment arm with a random assignment of either an SNR neutral (SNR-) or SNR enhanced (SNR+) hearing aid fitting (Factor 2). They will return to the lab for unaided baseline testing prior to crossing over to the second arm (the other SNR configuration: SNR- or SNR+).

The SNR- setting contains focuses on improving audibility of sounds through the hearing aids.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Revised Hearing Handicap Inventory (RHHI)
Time Frame: Baseline (unaided), 4 weeks (aided with intervention 1), 4 weeks (after wash-out period, and unaided), and 4 weeks (aided with intervention 2)
18-item questionnaire that assesses self-perceived hearing difficulty associated with social and emotional situations and is considered a hearing-related quality of life measure. Higher scores indicate MORE hearing difficulty. Administered unaided and aided. Scores range from 0 - 72.
Baseline (unaided), 4 weeks (aided with intervention 1), 4 weeks (after wash-out period, and unaided), and 4 weeks (aided with intervention 2)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB)
Time Frame: Baseline (unaided), 4 weeks (aided with intervention 1), 4 weeks (after wash-out period, and unaided), and 4 weeks (aided with intervention 2)
24-item questionnaire used to assess hearing problems in various listening environments (e.g., quiet, background noise, reverberation, and aversiveness to sound). Higher scores indicate greater hearing problems. Administered unaided and aided. Scores range from 1% to 99%.
Baseline (unaided), 4 weeks (aided with intervention 1), 4 weeks (after wash-out period, and unaided), and 4 weeks (aided with intervention 2)
Words in Noise (WIN) Test
Time Frame: Baseline (unaided), 4 weeks (aided with intervention 1), 4 weeks (after wash-out period, and unaided), and 4 weeks (aided with intervention 2)
35-word recognition in noise test with 5 words at each of the 7 signal-to-noise ratios that go from 24 dB SNR to 0 dB SNR in 4-dB decrements. The noise (six talker babble) is held constant with the level of the words varying to make up the SNRs. Listener repeats words in background noise of talkers where the words get progressively softer. Higher scores indicate more trouble hearing in noise. Administered unaided and aided. Scores range from 0dB to 24dB.
Baseline (unaided), 4 weeks (aided with intervention 1), 4 weeks (after wash-out period, and unaided), and 4 weeks (aided with intervention 2)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Duke University

Collaborators

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sherri L Smith, Au.D., Ph.D., Duke University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

January 1, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00120285
  • 1R01DC022584-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Investigators will share the de-identified analytic dataset and associated metadata as required by NIH policy.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

1 year after the main publication or as required by NIH policy

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Researchers interested in the study analytic dataset will request permission for use with justification for access.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe