Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Availability across the Spectrum of Human Skin Colors.

Open access · goldAbstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Audiology research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 47% of its field

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

Clinical Insights into Hearing Loss.Audiology research · 2025
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Shade Avery KirjavaDepartment of Health, Society, and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5664-8808

Sam Jones FaulknerProgram in Inclusive Design, OCAD University, Toronto, ON M5T 1W1, Canada.

Ontario College of Art and Design · CAUniversity of California, Irvine · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOver-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids were recently approved for sale in the United States. Research has shown that consumers prefer hearing devices that match their skin color because these devices are less noticeable. Colorism is discrimination against individuals with relatively darker skin that manifests in "skin-color" product offerings as products being offered primarily in relatively lighter colors.

methodsThis study compared images of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-registered over-the-counter hearing aids to a range of human skin colors.

resultsMost over-the-counter hearing aids are only offered in relatively lighter beige colors. Few over-the-counter hearing aids are available in darker skin colors.

conclusionsThese findings may represent structural bias, preventing equitable access to darker skin-color OTC hearing aids for individuals with darker skin.

Indexed as

hearing aidsover-the-counter hearing aidsrace factors

Identifiers

PMID38525687

DOI10.3390/audiolres14020026

PMCPMC10961692

OpenAlexW4392706669

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.