Clinical benefits and risks of bilateral amplification

Clinicians are in the unique position of continually developing a foundation of evidence-based practice each time they evaluate a patient. This is true not only in the field of audiology, but also in all healthcare professions. Typically, evidence-based practice (EBP) is assimilated from a combination of a systematic review of current practices, practitioner experience, academic training and ongoing continuing education through review of journals, textbooks and attendance at meetings as well as informal discussions with colleagues. Clinicians are inundated with information from these sources, and they need to extract the necessary information and apply it to their specific patient population. Evidence-based practice as it applies to the non-medical treatment of hearing loss (with hearing aids) will be discussed. In addition, several studies based on clinical observations are presented for discussion.