title: Fitting recommendations and clinical benefit associated with use of the NAL-NL2 hearing-aid prescription in Nucleus cochlear implant recipients.
abstract: For a group of cochlear implant recipients, who use hearing aids in the contralateral ear, the benefit of NAL-NL2 relative to a recipients' own prescription was assessed. Whether there was a preferred frequency response and/or gain deviation from NAL-NL2 was then investigated.
  
  
  
  Speech recognition and self-reported ratings of benefit were examined for the recipients' own prescription compared to the NAL-NL2 prescription, in the bimodal and hearing-aid alone conditions. Paired-comparison of hearing-aid frequency response was conducted with default NAL-NL2 and two variants, a low frequency boost or cut. Using a loudness balancing procedure, the hearing-aid gain required to achieve equal loudness between the devices was measured.
  
  
  
  Sixteen adults with post-lingual hearing loss.
  
  
  
  A 22% increase in group median word score in quiet with use of NAL-NL2 in the hearing-aid alone condition. In the bimodal condition there was no improvement with NAL-NL2. Default NAL-NL2 frequency response was preferred by 67% of participants. For 56% of participants, the preferred gain to achieve loudness balance across bimodal devices was within 5-dB of prescribed values.
  
  
  
  The NAL-NL2 prescription provides a high level of clinical performance, and an acceptable frequency response and gain for most participants.
authors: a The HEARing CRC , Melbourne , Australia .|b Cochlear Limited , Melbourne , Australia .
authors: Ruth
authors: R
authors: English
authors: a The HEARing CRC , Melbourne , Australia .|b Cochlear Limited , Melbourne , Australia .
authors: Kerrie
authors: K
authors: Plant
authors: a The HEARing CRC , Melbourne , Australia .
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Maciejczyk
authors: a The HEARing CRC , Melbourne , Australia .|c Department of Audiology, Hearing and Speech Sciences, The University of Melbourne , Melbourne , Australia , and.|d Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University , Sydney , Australia.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Cowan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting / Q000379:methods*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Cochlear implant; acoustic hearing; bimodal; hearing-aid prescription