Amplification for listeners with steeply sloping, high-frequency hearing loss.
Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of various upper cutoff frequencies on performance of listeners with steeply sloping, high-frequency hearing loss. The upper cutoff frequency of individually prescribed responses was systematically adjusted to 0.71, 1.79, and 6.0 kHz. Measures of nonsense syllable recognition and subjective ratings of speech intelligibility and speech quality were obtained at three overall gain settings for each frequency response. Experiment 1 assessed performance on tests in quiet and Experiment 2 assessed performance on tests in noise. Nonsense syllable recognition improved as the upper cutoff frequency increased, particularly for tests in noise. In contrast, the subjects gave significantly poorer quality ratings for the shaped response with the highest cutoff frequency (6.0 kHz). Few significant effects of cutoff frequency were found for ratings of intelligibility in either quiet or noise.
Sullivan
J A
JA
House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, California.
Allsman
C S
CS
Nielsen
L B
LB
Mobley
J P
JP
D000368:Aged; D000669:Amplifiers, Electronic; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004867:Equipment Design; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D006313:Hearing Loss, Central / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D013062:Speech Articulation Tests; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*