Abstract Hearing-specific and generic measures of hearing aid outcome were exam- ined in order (a) to determine their relative sensitivity to hearing aid use and (b) to examine the relationship between pre–hearing aid use expectations and post-use outcomes. Ninety-two hearing-impaired individuals completed some combination of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, Expected Consequences of Hearing Aid Ownership (ECHO), Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life (SADL), and Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale, and provided reports of their daily and lifetime hearing aid use. In gen- eral, (a) the longer individuals wear hearing aids, the more positive the reported outcome, and (b) ECHO scores of non–hearing aid users are higher than SADL scores of new hearing aid users (six weeks to one year of use) but are similar to those obtained from experienced users (greater than one year of use). Between-questionnaire comparisons showed the generic measure to be as sensitive as the hearing aid specific measures. We suggest that generic measures have some advantages over hearing specific measures but that each has a place in the clinic. Key Words: Assistive devices, hearing aid outcome, psychosocial, rehabili- tation Abbreviations: 4-frequency PTA = four-frequency pure-tone average (mean of thresholds at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 kHz); APHAB = Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit; ECHO = Expected Consequences of Hearing aid Ownership; HRQL = Health-Related Quality of Life; MANOVA = Multivariate Analysis of Variance; PIADS = Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale; SADL = Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life Hearing Specific and Generic Measures of the Psychosocial Impact of Hearing Aids Gabrielle H. Saunders* Jeffrey W. Jutai † *National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Portland, Oregon; † Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada Reprint requests: Gabrielle H. Saunders, Ph.D., National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR 97207; Phone: 503-220-8262, ext. 56210; Fax: 503-273-5021; E-mail: Gabrielle.saunders@med.va.gov Aspects of this work were presented at the annual convention of American Academy of Audiology 2001, San Diego, CA. Portions of this work were supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Grant #C2709I, the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research for the Consortium on Assistive Technology Outcomes Research, a U.S. Department of Education grant, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (through the Ontario Rehabilitation Technology Consortium). 238 J Am Acad Audiol 15:238–248 (2004) Sumario Se examinaron medidas genéricas y específicas de la audición en el rendimiento de auxiliares auditivos, para (a) determinar la sensibilidad relativa al uso del auxiliar auditivo, y (b) examinar la relación entre expectativas previas al uso del auxiliar auditivo y resultados posteriores a su utilización. Noventa y dos individuos hipoacúsicos completaron una combinación del Perfil Abreviado de Beneficio del Auxiliar Auditivo, Consecuencias Esperadas de la Posesión de un Auxiliar Auditivo (ECHO), Satisfacción y Amplificación en la Vida Diaria