Subjective ratings of noise-reduction hearing aids.
The effectiveness of seven commercially available noise-reduction hearing aids was evaluated using subjective ratings of continuous discourse. Subjective scales of listening comfort, speech quality, speech understanding, noise interference, and overall liking were used. Fifteen experienced hearing-aid users participated. Two hearing aids that used amplitude compression (Audiotone A-54 and Telex 363C), two hearing aids that used the Zeta Noise Blocker (two versions of a Maico SP147), and three hearing aids that proportionally attenuated the low-frequencies (Rion HB-69AS, Richards ASE-B, and Siemens 283 ASP) were evaluated. None of the noise-reduction hearing aids significantly altered group performance on any subjective scale. Individually, however, subjects responded differently to different noise-reduction hearing aids, indicating that some noise-reduction hearing aids may help some hearing-impaired individuals.
Kuk
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FK
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Tyler
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RS
Mims
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L
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception