Hearing Aid & Technology Survey – Hearing Aid & Technology Survey

Where are you from?

Please write down the name of your country!

When did you get your first hearing aids?

As a child
As an adolescent
As an adult
As a senior

How old are you?

What has caused your hearing loss?

Without hearing aids, how much do you hear?

Nothing
Only extremely loud sounds
I am very restricted, but I can still hear a little bit without them
I am a little bit restricted, but I can still hear most things without them
I wear hearing aids, but I would be able to participate in everyday life without them

Did you ever have an infection and/or a skin irritation that might be connected to the usage of hearing aids?

Yes
No

How would you rate your overall life situation with hearing loss and hearing aids?

I am not affected by my hearing loss
I am little bit affected
I am somewhat affected
I am strongly affected

How would you rate your speech understanding in good conditions?

I simply cannot follow conversations without looking at the person's lips
I have a hard time following conversations
Conversations are not easy to follow, but with enough concentration i can take part
I can follow conversations
I can follow conversations easily

How would you rate your speech understanding in difficult conditions? (background noise, loud environment etc.)

I simply cannot follow conversations without looking at the person's lips (reading their lips)
I have a hard time following conversations
Conversations are not easy to follow, but with enough concentration i can take part
I can follow conversations
I can follow conversations easily

In which situations do you have problems as a hearing aid user? (You can select multiple answers!)

Enjoying high quality music
Understanding speech in noisy environments
Telling which direction sounds come from, everything is flat
Understanding speech from a distance that others can still understand fine
Clarity of sound
User friendliness of my hearing aids
Overall soundquality
Comfort while wearing my hearing aids
None, I'm fine in every situation

In which areas could your current hearing aids improve?

Which aspect of hearing aids is the most important?

Design that looks and feels good
Size and discretion
Sound quality
Technological level & innovative features that solve problems

Which aspect of hearing aids is the second most important?

Size and discretion
Sound quality
Technological level & innovative features that solve problems

Which aspect of hearing aids is the second most important?

Design that looks and feels good
Sound quality
Technological level & innovative features that solve problems

Which aspect of hearing aids is the second most important?

Design that looks and feels good
Size and discretion
Technological level & innovative features that solve problems

Which aspect of hearing aids is the second most important?

Design that looks and feels good
Size and discretion
Sound quality

Are your hearing aids rechargeable?

I don't know
No, its using batteries
Yes, i can recharge my hearing aids

How would you rate the battery life of your hearing aids?

The more stars, the happier you are with the battery life. The less stars, the less happy you are about it

Approximately, how many days do your hearing aids last until you have to change batteries again?

Approximately, how many days do your hearing aids last until you have to recharge them?

Do you usually take out your hearing aids when you go to sleep?

Yes
No

Are you worried that you might not hear important sounds while you sleep? (Alarm, knocking, phone calls etc.)

Yes
No

Are your hearing aids uncomfortable while you sleep?

Yes
No

Overall, how would you rate your hearing aids?

More stars mean that you are happy with your hearing aids, less stars mean you are dissatisfied with them

Has your insurance paid for your hearing aids?

Fully
Partially
They did not pay anything
I have no social insurance plan

How much did you have to pay for your current hearing aids?

Please write down the price you had to pay for your hearing aids. If you don't know exactly, an approximation is fine. Please include your currency such as € / euro, or $ / dollar etc.

How would you rate the average prices of hearing aids?

Have you ever visited a hearing care professional

Yes
No

Have you had your hearing aids adjusted by a hearing care professional?

Yes
No

How satisfied are you with your hearing care professional and the fitting process?

Very unsatisfied	Unsatisfied	I can't say	Neutral	Satisfied	Very satisfied
Hearing care professional Very unsatisfied	Hearing care professional Unsatisfied	Hearing care professional I can't say	Hearing care professional Neutral	Hearing care professional Satisfied	Hearing care professional Very satisfied

How do you feel about the last visit at your hearing care professional?

Very good
Good
Neutral
Bad

How often do you visit your hearing care professional? (Per year)

How much time do you usually spend at your hearing care professional? (Per visit, including waiting period and travel time)

Over 4 hours
2 - 4 hours
1 - 2 hours
less than 1 hour

How do you feel about the time it took to get your settings right?

It was quick and i'm happy with my hearing aid settings
It took some time but the settings are good now
It's still not quite right, but it's the best we could do
I tried it, but the results were so unsatisfying that i had to return my hearing aids
It's horrible, but i've got no choice, my hearing seemingly doesn't allow for bettter perception

Have you recieved a hearing test summary?

Yes
No

Would you be willing to support my research by providing your hearing test? (No personal data of yours will be used for this survey)

Yes
No

If available, please upload a photograph, scan or screenshot of your hearing test provided to you by your hearing care professional and/or doctor. If possible, please crop/cut out any personal information. Any personal information left on the document/picture will be otherwise removed by me. Any personal information except the values on the hearing curve will be anonymized. After this survey has been concluded, all data will be aggregated and will be stored fully anonymized and absolutely untraceable.

How long do you usually wear hearing aids before switching to new ones?

1 - 3 years
3 - 5 years
Over 5 years
Actually, I never switched my hearing aids

Do you think that hearing aids are stigmatized and judged by society?

Yes	Somewhat	No
Yes Yes	Yes Somewhat	Yes No

Are you ready to answer a few questions that dive deeper into the technical side of hearing aids? Don't worry you don't have to be an engineer ;)

Yes, let's do this!
No

Do you have a favourite hearing aid brand?

Have you ever switched the brand/manufacturer of your hearing aids?

Yes
No
I would like to, but that's not possible

What were the reasons you have switched to a different brand?

Sound quality (clarity, speech intelligibility etc.)
The different brand had a more beautiful design
I had too much technical problems with my old hearing aids
The new brand had features like streaming, smartphone app etc.
I was recommended a different brand
Other reasons

Which brand were your previous hearing aids? (Before you switched)

Which technology / feature(s) would motivate you to switch hearing aids? (Multiple selection possible!)

Does your hearing aid have one or more of the following features? (Multiple selection possible!)

Automatic sound improvement / programs
Noise suppression
Speech enhancement
My hearing aid doesn't have any of these features

How would you rate the automatic sound improvement / programs feature of your hearing aids?

More stars means better.

How would you rate the noise suppression feature of your hearing aids?

More stars means better.

How would you rate the speech enhancement feature of your hearing aids?

More stars means better.

Do you think that your hearing aids concentrate too much on speech and make compromises in other areas? (music quality for example)

Yes
No

Which compromises do you think your hearing aids make generally?

Do you use a smartphone app for your hearing aids?

Yes
Sometimes
No
My hearing aids don't have any smartphone app

What do you think about the smartphone app, its functionality and user friendliness?

Do you use wireless connectivity for your hearing aids? (Bluetooth etc.)

Yes
Sometimes
No
My hearing aid doesn't support wireless connectivity

Is wireless connection important to you?

Yes
No

Do you have problems with wireless connections in general?

Yes
No
I used to, but device/software upgrades have fixed them

Do you use voice assistants (Siri, Cortana, Alexa, Bixby etc.)

Often
Sometimes
Rarely
No

What do you think about voice assistants?

I think it's a great technology that has a bright future
I think they are good and important
I think their capabilities are exaggerated, but they might be useful nevertheless
I think they are unnecessary
I think they are dangerous
I don't have an opinion on that

What do you think about artificial intelligence (AI) in general?

I think it's a great technology that has a bright future
I think it's good and important
I think its capabilities are exaggerated, but they can be useful nevertheless
I think it's unnecessary
I think it's dangerous
I don't have an opinion on that

Do you think AI can improve your hearing?

Yes
No
I don't know

How would you rate the technological progress of hearing aids?

The more stars the better you would rate the technological progress of hearing aids.

If you have any additional thoughts, please feel free to share them with me! With pressing the "Submit" Button, you agree to the usage of your answers as described. All data will be completely anonymized and will not be personally traceable to you in any way.