Comparison of three hearing aid fittings using the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) Test

This study compared the effects of three different hearing aids on subjective ratings of speech intelligibility. Insertion gain measurements on KEMAR indicated that the hearing aid fittings differed primarily in midfrequency gain. The test passages of the Speech Intelligibility Rating Test (SIR) were recorded onto tape through each hearing aid. The processed passages were presented monaurally to 13 subjects with hearing loss limited to frequencies above 2000 Hz. They rated five passages through each frequency responses (FR) in a randomized order. Each subject was retested within 2 or 3 days to assess test-retest reliability. Results indicated that the FR with the most midfrequency amplification did not differ significantly from the aid with the least amount of midfrequency gain. However, the FR with intermediate midfrequency gain received significantly lower ratings than did FR with most gain. Examination of the data from individual subjects indicated that the SIR results did not show differences among the FRs for the majority of subjects.