Is normal or less than normal overall loudness preferred by first-time hearing aid users?

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Hearing Aid Technology
• Psychoacoustics

Background:

• Current hearing aid fitting methods often assume normal loudness perception is desired.
• Previous research suggests a preference for lower gain than prescribed by some linear methods.
• Wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) hearing aids aim to restore audibility across different sound levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare two WDRC prescriptive methods differing in target overall loudness.
• To determine if first-time hearing aid users prefer normal or reduced overall loudness.
• To evaluate user preference for WDRC hearing aids with varying loudness targets.

Main Methods:

• A crossover blinded field study with 21 first-time hearing aid users.
• Comparison of two WDRC fitting methods: NormLoudn (normal loudness) and LessLoudn (reduced loudness).
• Field evaluation via interviews, questionnaires, and diaries, supplemented by laboratory tests including speech recognition.

Main Results:

• The LessLoudn method, providing 3-7 phon less loudness, was preferred by 19 out of 21 participants.
• Preference for LessLoudn was consistent across field and laboratory settings and in most listening situations.
• Speech recognition performance was similar between the two fitting methods.

Conclusions:

• First-time hearing aid users with mild to moderate hearing loss prefer reduced overall loudness (LessLoudn).
• Standard prescriptive methods (e.g., CAMEQ, NAL-NL1, DSL[i/o]) may overestimate gain for novice users.
• Individualized adjustment of overall gain is crucial to avoid overamplification and enhance user satisfaction.