{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T17:37:02Z","timestamp":1792690622035,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,1]],"date-time":"2021-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609459200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100014653","name":"NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["IS-BRC-1215-20007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IS-BRC-1215-20007"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100014653","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Trends in Hearing"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This systematic review, the first on this topic, aimed to investigate if probe-tube verification of real-ear hearing aid amplification characteristics improves outcomes in adults. The review was preregistered in the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews and performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. After assessing more than 1,420 records from seven databases, six experimental studies (published between 2012 and 2019) met the inclusion criteria; five were included in the meta-analyses. The primary outcome of interest (hearing-specific, health-related quality of life) was not reported in any study. There were moderate and statistically significant positive effects of probe-tube real-ear measurement (REM), compared with the manufacturer\u2019s initial fit, on speech intelligibility in quiet settings (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.59) and user\u2019s final preference (proportion difference: 52.2%). There were small but statistically significant positive effects of REM on self-reported listening abilities (SMD: 0.22) and speech intelligibility in noise (SMD: 0.15). The quality of evidence for these outcomes ranged from high to very low. The findings show that REMs improve outcomes statistically, but this is based on a small number of studies and a limited number of participants. It is currently unclear if the benefits are of material importance because minimum clinically important differences have not been established for most of the outcomes. Ultimately, there needs to be a cost-effectiveness analysis to show that statistically significant benefits, which exceed the minimum clinically important difference, are worth the cost involved.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/2331216521999563","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,26]],"date-time":"2021-04-26T02:17:55Z","timestamp":1619403475000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":34,"title":["Does Probe-Tube Verification of Real-Ear Hearing Aid Amplification Characteristics Improve Outcomes in Adults? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4043-7234","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ibrahim","family":"Almufarrij","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness, School of Health Sciences, Manchester, United Kingdom"},{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Harvey","family":"Dillon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness, School of Health Sciences, Manchester, United Kingdom"},{"name":"Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin J.","family":"Munro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness, School of Health Sciences, Manchester, United Kingdom"},{"name":"Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14992020500057830"},{"key":"bibr2-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3766\/jaaa.18.8.3"},{"key":"bibr3-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3766\/jaaa.23.10.3"},{"key":"bibr4-2331216521999563","unstructured":"Action on Hearing Loss. (2015).\n                      Hearing matters. UK\n                      . https:\/\/actiononhearingloss.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Hearing-Matters-Report.pdf"},{"key":"bibr5-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2331216519858301"},{"key":"bibr6-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2020-038113"},{"issue":"5","key":"bibr7-2331216521999563","first-page":"32","volume":"18","author":"American Academy of Audiology Task Force Committee","year":"2006","journal-title":". 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(2018).\n                      Guidance on the verification of hearing devices using probe microphone measurements\n                      (pp. 1\u201332)."},{"key":"bibr14-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2331216519886684"},{"key":"bibr15-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2331216518820220"},{"key":"bibr16-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1155\/2015\/827463"},{"key":"bibr17-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3342\/kjorl-hns.2018.00052"},{"key":"bibr18-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00003446-199504000-00005"},{"key":"bibr19-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3109\/14992020209101309"},{"key":"bibr20-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3310\/hta11420"},{"key":"bibr21-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119536604.ch10"},{"key":"bibr22-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14992027.2018.1543958"},{"key":"bibr23-2331216521999563","unstructured":"Dillon H. (2012).\n                      Hearing aids\n                      . Thieme."},{"key":"bibr24-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.52.6.377"},{"key":"bibr25-2331216521999563","first-page":"CD012023","volume":"9","author":"Ferguson M. 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(2014).\n                      Commission on hearing loss: Final report\n                      . https:\/\/ilcuk.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Hearing-loss-Commission-final-report-website.pdf"},{"issue":"1","key":"bibr34-2331216521999563","first-page":"168","volume":"5","author":"Karimi L. J.","year":"2016","journal-title":"Rehabilitation Medicine"},{"key":"bibr35-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4081\/audiores.2011.e24"},{"issue":"11","key":"bibr36-2331216521999563","first-page":"12","volume":"16","author":"Kochkin S.","year":"2009","journal-title":"Hearing Review"},{"key":"bibr37-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejca.2007.08.030"},{"issue":"863","key":"bibr38-2331216521999563","volume":"4","author":"Lakens D.","year":"2013","journal-title":"Frontiers in Psychology"},{"issue":"13","key":"bibr39-2331216521999563","first-page":"20","volume":"19","author":"Leavitt R. 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(2013).\n                      GRADE handbook\n                      . https:\/\/gdt.gradepro.org\/app\/handbook\/handbook.html"},{"key":"bibr50-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3109\/14992020903148038"},{"key":"bibr51-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/108471380500900403"},{"key":"bibr52-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.g7647"},{"key":"bibr53-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.d4002"},{"key":"bibr54-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMsa065779"},{"key":"bibr55-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamainternmed.2013.3018"},{"key":"bibr56-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3766\/jaaa.17005"},{"key":"bibr57-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00003446-198205000-00006"},{"key":"bibr58-2331216521999563","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Walravens E., Keidser G., Hickson L. (2020). Consistency of hearing aid setting preference in simulated real-world environments: implications for trainable hearing aids.\n                      Trends in Hearing\n                      ,\n                      24\n                      , 2331216520933392-2331216520933392. https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/32602407 https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2331216520933392","DOI":"10.1177\/2331216520933392"},{"key":"bibr59-2331216521999563","unstructured":"World Health Organization. (2020).\n                      Deafness and hearing loss\n                      . https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/deafness-and-hearing-loss"}],"container-title":["Trends in Hearing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/2331216521999563","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/2331216521999563","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/2331216521999563","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T00:46:49Z","timestamp":1777596409000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/2331216521999563"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"references-count":58,"alternative-id":["10.1177\/2331216521999563"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/2331216521999563","relation":{},"ISSN":["2331-2165","2331-2165"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2331-2165","type":"print"},{"value":"2331-2165","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"article-number":"2331216521999563"}}