The effect of fitting formulas in programmable hearing aids on speech discrimination in noise.
OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to compare three fitting formulas for programmable hearing aids in noisy environments using speech discrimination tests.


METHODS
The study included 17 hearing impaired subjects (9 males, 8 females; mean age 28 years; range 15 to 45 years) with bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss. Speech discrimination tests were carried out at various signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) at +5, 0, -5 dB, based on the NAL (National Acoustic Laboratories), POGO (Prescription of Gain/Output), and Berger fitting formulas with programmable hearing aids.


RESULTS
When the SNR was +5 dB, speech discrimination scores of NAL and Berger were similar. Both had significantly better scores than POGO (p=0.017). When the SNR was 0 dB, speech discrimination scores differed significantly between the three formulas, with NAL having the best score, and Berger having a better score than POGO (p=0.017). When the SNR was -5 dB, the scores were similar between NAL and Berger. Both had significantly higher scores than POGO (p=0.017).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that there are significant differences in terms of speech discrimination scores among the fitting formulas.
Dündar
Songül Elmaci
SE
songuldundar@hotmail.com
Aksoy
Songül
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009622:Noise; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests