Background:
Hearing aids are equipped with many features to improve the speech perception abilities in quiet as well as in challenging situations. Despite that, older adults who use and benefit from hearing aids remain less satisfied. The present study focuses on aspects such as working memory, speech perception in noise (SNR-50), hearing aid usage, and its impact on perceived hearing aid benefit in older adults.

Material and methods:
Digit backward test and speech perception in noise test were administered on 34 older adults having mild to moderately-severe sensorineural hearing loss who were naïve users of hearing aids. The participants were divided into good and poor performers based on SNR-50. Two months later, the same tests were repeated along with administration of International Outcome Inventory - Hearing Aids (IOI-HA).

Results:
There was a significant difference in working memory and speech perception in noise with hearing aid outcome measures. It was also seen that individuals with better working memory and lower SNR-50 scores benefited more from a hearing aid. Cognition plays an important role in determining the amount of benefit derived from hearing aids in older adults.

Conclusions:
The present study highlights the importance of measuring working memory and speech perception abilities in older adults with hearing loss before fitting a hearing aid. These measures have a significant role in counselling about the realistic expectations of benefits from a hearing aid.