title: Everyday hearing functioning in unilateral versus bilateral hearing aid users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the present study was to assess hearing functioning in everyday listening situations of bilateral and unilateral hearing aid (HA) users.
  
  
  METHODS
  80 Arabic-speaking HA users: 46 bilateral and 34 unilateral HA users with various degrees of HL. Participants completed the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities (SSQ) self-report questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In general, bilateral users performed better than unilateral users on the speech and spatial scales. For participants with symmetrical unaided HL, the bilateral group significantly surpassed the unilateral group on all three scales. For participants with asymmetrical unaided HL, no significant intergroup differences emerged. Regarding degree of HL, the moderate HL group outperformed the severe, and profound HL groups. No differences emerged between the severe and profound groups. Finally, more severe HL correlated with poorer SSQ performance. Similarly, better speech discrimination scores correlated with better SSQ performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results support the need for subjective questionnaires when assessing HA benefits.
authors.affiliation: School of Education, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. tovam@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Tova
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Most
authors.forename: Limor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Adi-Bensaid
authors.forename: Talma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shpak
authors.forename: Siwar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharkiya
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luntz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult