Clinical Practice Report Card: Are We Meeting Best-Practice Standards for Adult Hearing Rehabilitation?

By John Greer Clark, Cassie Huff, and Brian R. Earl

This article is a part of the November/December 2017, Volume 29, Number 6, Audiology Today issue.

Professional introspection is a primary road to growth and surveys of professional practice offer a window to our performance. Development and refinement of clinical protocols and services over the years have enhanced treatment outcomes for millions of individuals with hearing loss. One means of continually improving services is to periodically survey how clinicians practice.

In the past, a series of surveys determined which diagnostic procedures and practices were common among audiologists (Martin and Pennington, 1971, 1972; Martin and Forbis, 1978; Martin and Sides, 1985; Martin and Morris, 1989; Martin et al, 1994; Martin et al, 1998). These and other research (e.g., Mueller and Picou, 2010; Wiley et al, 1995) suggest that a majority of audiologists use tests and procedures that are not supported by clinical evidence.

We recently conducted an online survey of randomly selected members of the Academy focused primarily on clinical practices that support adult hearing rehabilitation. With a survey delivery to 1,220 audiologists followed by two reminder requests for survey completion, the survey yielded only 88 responses. In spite of this disappointingly low response rate, likely attributed to the increasing requests for survey participations that appear in in-boxes, we believe that the responses are representative of practicing audiologists. Those responding represent a variety of practice settings from all regions of the country and reflect a wide diversity in years of practice. The results of this survey provide a glimpse into areas in which audiology could improve to enhance the hearing rehabilitation services we provide to our adult patients.