Blog: Hearing aids versus a cochlear implant – which is better for adults with severe hearing loss?

Please note: applications have now closed.

By Dr Adele Horobin

Well, for people who have hearing loss equal to or greater than 80dB, NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) advise that a cochlear implant is better.  But what about people who just miss out on this cut-off point? People with hearing loss between 70dB and 80dB? Well, the evidence isn’t clear.

Here in Nottingham, we want to find out which is better.

Researchers from the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and the University of Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit are working with audiologists, surgeons and members of the public with severe hearing loss to design and deliver the national COACH trial – a randomised controlled trial comparing hearing aids to a cochlear implant.

We need your help!

We will be recruiting for this trial later this year, but in the meantime, we need your perspectives about cochlear implantation and the trial design by completing a short survey.

Please go to: https://nottingham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/coach-public-survey. This will help us refine the trial design and participant information. Thank you.

Also, we need to establish a Trial Steering Committee to oversee the trial. We have two places on the committee for members of the public with personal experience of deafness. To find out more and apply for a position, please see: https://nottingham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/join-the-coach-trial-steering-committee

The survey and the committee applications are both open until 16 April 2o21. Thank you!

Keep in touch

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