A systematic review of the nonacoustic benefits of bone-anchored hearing AIDS
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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
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Published on: December 20, 2024
Carole E Johnson1, Jeffrey L Danhauer, Amber C Reith
1Department of Communication Disorders, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849-5232, USA. johns19@auburn.edu
Objective:
This study completed an evidence-based practice systematic review of the nonacoustic benefits for adult patients receiving bone-anchored hearing aid(s) (BAHAs) relative to other forms of amplification (i.e., none, bone-conduction hearing aids [BCHAs], or air-conduction hearing aids [ACHAs]).
Design:
Systematic review.
Methods:
ComDisDome and PubMed were used to perform a comprehensive search for studies that were of at least level III of evidence. Three independent reviewers completed the search, quality assessment, and data extraction.
Results:
Out of 28 studies, seven studies were identified, three of which were prospective and four of which were retrospective within-subject comparison designs. Nearly all of the studies were of small sample size and/or limited methodological quality, primarily because of logistics (e.g., heterogeneity of subject samples and prior experience with amplification).
Conclusions:
The evidence identified in this review is limited regarding the nonacoustic benefits of BAHAs compared with unaided conditions or other types of amplification. Professionals should use caution when counseling patients about the quality of life (QOL) benefits of these devices. Routine use of QOL outcome measures and standardized methods for reporting findings are critical in demonstrating the nonacoustic benefits of BAHAs.
