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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Comparison of an adhesive wearing option and a headband in a non-implantable bone conduction hearing device
Martin Kompis1, Marina Leimbacher1, Georgios Mantokoudis1
1Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Background:
Non-implantable bone conduction (BC) hearing systems are well-established for individuals with conductive or mixed hearing loss.
Objective:
To evaluate the audiological performance of two wearing options-an adhesive adapter and headband-worn unilaterally and bilaterally using the same non-implantable BC hearing device Contact Forte (BHM Inc., Grafenschachen, Austria).
Material And Methods:
Fifteen normal hearing adults with simulated bilateral conductive hearing losses participated in the study. Speech understanding in quiet and in noise were measured unaided and with BC devices worn unilaterally, bilaterally, with adhesive adapters, and mounted on headbands. Sound quality was rated using a questionnaire.
Results:
At 50 dB SPL word recognition scores in quiet improved, on average, by 58% (unilateral), and 69% (bilateral) with adhesive adapters and by 65% and 74% with headbands. At 65 dB mean scores were above 95% in all aided conditions. In noise, speech presented speech reception thresholds decreased by 2.3-3.6 dB. With two devices, an additional benefit of 4.4 dB SNR (p<.001) was observed for speech from the side of the second device. Participants favored the bilateral configurations.
Conclusion And Significance:
Both wearing options showed comparable improvements in speech understanding. Bilateral fittings led to better speech understanding for one configuration and were favored subjectively.
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