The short version
- An updated international guide for adults with severe and profound hearing loss tells clinicians to discuss cochlear implant referral well before hearing aids stop helping.
- It adds new sections on music, Auracast broadcast audio, sign language users and gene therapy, which it treats as research rather than treatment.
- It is an expert consensus document, not a trial, and several of its authors are employed by or funded by the hearing-aid maker Sonova.
An international group of 17 audiologists and hearing scientists has updated its best-practice guide for adults with severe and profound hearing loss, meaning losses of 61 dB or more in the better ear. The guide, published on October 26 in Seminars in Hearing, replaces the 2020 version and covers evidence through early 2026. Its firmest line is on implants: “Cochlear implantation is considered the standard of care treatment for adults with severe and profound sensorineural hearing loss.” Clinicians are told to “Discuss CI referral well before hearing aids reach the point of limited benefit”, and to explain that a referral gathers information and isn’t a decision.
New sections cover sign language users, music, Auracast broadcast audio and gene therapy. The music advice is practical: set up a separate hearing-aid program for it. Gene therapies are described as research, not established treatment for most adults. The Auracast section rests on two studies that each scored zero on the guide’s own quality scale.
This is expert consensus, not a trial, and the authors say it is not a systematic review. Three authors work for Sonova, which owns Phonak, two have Sonova grants, and one consults for Phonak. Another sits on advisory boards for the implant makers Advanced Bionics and MED-EL.
