Question
What is the frequency of hearing aid repair for new hearing aids manufactured in the USA? What are the primary sources of hearing aid failure?
Answer
The frequency of repair depends on the style of hearing aid: in general, the smaller the shell the greater the repair frequency.
REPAIR PERCENTAGES*
Full Shell - 13%
Canal - 14%
CIC - 25%
*These percentages denote the ratio of hearing aids built versus hearing aids repaired/adjusted. For example, of all the ITEs built in one month, 13 percent were returned for adjustments/repairs.
New hearing aids are seen in the repair department primarily for response adjustments and fit-related issues. Although we (as an industry) refer to this incident as a ''repair,'' it is actually an integral part of the normal fitting process and importantly, does not represent a product defect.
The most common ''true'' repair actions are receiver replacement/cleaning due to cerumen and microphone replacement/cleaning due to skin oils and other debris in the microphone. The next most common repair action is to correct physical wear issues. The main ones are volume controls, battery doors and switches.
On average, ITEs are seen for repair every 12-15 months, ITCs are seen every 9 - 12 months, and CICs are seen every 7-9 months.
BIO:
Michael Block, PhD, CCC-A, F-AAA, is Director of Customer Service and Technical Support for Starkey Laboratories. Dr. Block has been an audiologist for more than 25 years. His extensive history includes research, audiology instructor, clinical service provider, clinical supervisor and academic department chair.
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