Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Peer-reviewed study (publisher abstract)

The Use of Large Group Assistive Listening Devices With and Without Hearing Aids in an Adult Classroom Setting

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/noe-1997-group-listening-headsets/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • Noe CM, Davidson SA, Mishler PJ
  • American Journal of Audiology 6(3):48-63 (ASHA)

Independent (Ohio State University and US Veterans Affairs affiliations; funding not stated in the readable abstract)

Summary

An adult workshop compared group listening systems with no system, including headset use without hearing aids.

Key findings

  • The sample comprised 10 listeners with normal hearing and 18 with sensorineural hearing loss. FM, infrared and loops improved word recognition relative to no system in both groups.
  • Listeners with hearing loss performed better and preferred these three systems through headsets rather than inductively coupled to their own hearing aids. Both groups preferred FM for performance, comfort and ease of use.

Limits

Publisher abstract read through a 25 November 2021 Wayback Machine copy after the direct page returned 403. Full methods, device models, effect sizes and funding were inaccessible. A 1997 comparison cannot rank current products. The study's sound-field arm is outside venue-system scope and is not used here.

Read the original

pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/1059-0889.0603.48

Link checked . We link to the original and do not host copies.

Cited in

Cite this source

Noe CM, Davidson SA, Mishler PJ. The Use of Large Group Assistive Listening Devices With and Without Hearing Aids in an Adult Classroom Setting. American Journal of Audiology 6(3):48-63 (ASHA). 1 November 1997. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/1059-0889.0603.48 (accessed 13 October 2026).

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