inDEPTH: What OTC Hearing Aids & Rural Alaska Have in Common

Today’s episode features two interviews, taking different lenses on news in hearing loss. We first talk with Frank Lin, MD, PhD, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine about the various obstacles to hearing health, including new advice on the just FDA-approved OTC hearing aids. He has been part of the FDA rule from the start and tells us a little about how this came to be, as well as some of the benefits. We then speak with Susan D. Emmett, MD, MPH, from the University of Arkansas. She recently led a randomized controlled trial in 15 communities in rural Alaska, looking at whether telemedicine specialty referral can improve time to follow-up for school hearing screening compared with standard primary care referral. Enjoy listening!

Additional reading

Lin FR, Reed NS. Over-the-counter hearing aids: How we got here and necessary next steps. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022 Jul;70(7):1954-1956. 

Emmett SD, et al. Mobile health school screening and telemedicine referral to improve access to specialty care in rural Alaska: a cluster- randomised controlled trial. Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Jul;10(7):e1023-e1033

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