Hearing with the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA, HC 200) compared to a conventional bone-conduction hearing aid.
Sixteen patients have been fitted with a standard bone-anchored hearing aid (HC 200), to replace their conventional bone-conduction aid. The average pure tone threshold at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz varied from 35 to 75 dB HL, with a sensorineural component varying from 0 to 30 dB HL. The patients' performance with the bone-anchored aid was compared to that with the conventional bone-conduction aid in an acoustic-free field. The maximum phoneme score in quiet was 100% in most patients; in 6 patients, the score with the bone-anchored aid was better (range from 5 to 10%). The speech-in-noise ratio was significantly better in 11 patients (range from -1.4 to -8 dB). None of the patients had poorer results on either test with the bone-anchored aid. The improved speech recognition was ascribed to better performance of the hearing aid in the higher frequency range (above 2 kHz) and to relatively less distortion.
Cremers
C W
CW
Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Snik
F M
FM
Beynon
A J
AJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D001844:Bone Conduction; D002648:Child; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking