Fall Risk Assessment and Speech Intelligibility Enhancement Using In-ear Device

Participants will undergo the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries) fall risk assessment with the hearing aids on. The scoring for these tests will be done by the tester, 2 independent raters, and the hearing aids. A comparison of the fall risk assessments by the testers and the hearing aids is the primary outcome measure. This outcome is assessed in Fall Risk Assessment participants only.

Duration of time to stand, walk to a line on the floor (3 meters/10 feet away), turn around, return to chair and sit. Participants wear their regular footwear and can use a walking aid if needed. This outcome is assessed in Fall Risk Assessment participants only.

Number of times participants can stand without using their arms during the test. Participants wear their regular footwear and can use a walking aid if needed. This outcome is assessed in Fall Risk Assessment participants only.

Participants who are able to keep their balance for 10 second in each of four positions (feet together, feet staggered, feet in tandem, and single foot stand). They can hold their arms out, or move their body to help keep your balance, but not move their feet. This outcome is assessed in Fall Risk Assessment participants only.

The number and percentage of words and phonemes accurately repeated are measured in aided (using hearing aids) and unaided conditions. This outcome is measured in Speech Intelligibility participants only.

The number and percentage of words and phonemes accurately repeated are measured in ambient noise conditions in aided and unaided conditions. This outcome is measured in Speech Intelligibility participants only.

The number and percentage of words and phonemes accurately repeated are measured in muli-talker babble noise conditions in aided and unaided conditions. This outcome is measured in Speech Intelligibility participants only.

The number and percentage of words and phonemes accurately repeated are measured in continuous noise conditions in aided and unaided conditions. This outcome is measured in Speech Intelligibility participants only.

Participants are screened using the CDC's "Three Key Questions" which are part of the STEADI Protocol.

Listening effort scale score measures the participant's perceived listening effort. This outcome is measured in Speech Intelligibility participants only.

Auditory Lifestyle and Demand scale score measures perceived demands of hearing on lifestyle. This outcome is measured in Speech Intelligibility participants only.

Participants rate their experience with the hearing aid regarding the following aspects: perceived difficulty communicating and listening effort in different environments.

Data is gathered on age, sex, education level, hand-laterality, professional background, exercise habits, race, ethnicity, marital status, health literacy scores, medical conditions, and medications.

Blood pressure measurements in laying down, sitting, and standing positions.

Hearing thresholds are measured from 250Hz through 8kHz in both ears, air and bone conduction.

Participants rate their confidence level in various balance situations.

Participants rate their difficulty level with understanding speech in various hearing situations.

Data is gathered from the participants' hearing aids on wear-time, streaming time, time spent in various sound classes and software updates. Data is also collected on the participants' required receiver length and coupling, as well as any specific fitting requirements they may have.