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Preferred hearing aid gain and bass-cut in relation to prescriptive fitting
Scandinavian Audiology
|January 1, 1984
Summary
Elderly hearing aid users preferred less insertion gain than predicted by standard methods. A gain reserve and individualized adjustments are crucial for optimal hearing aid fitting.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Hearing Science
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Hearing aid fitting aims to restore audibility for hearing-impaired individuals.
- Prescriptive fitting methods provide gain recommendations based on hearing loss.
- User preferences, especially in elderly, untrained users, may differ from prescriptive targets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the insertion gain versus frequency preferred by moderately hearing-impaired, elderly, untrained hearing aid users.
- To compare user-preferred gain with recommendations from three prescriptive fitting methods.
- To determine appropriate gain reserves and ranges for hearing aid fittings.
Main Methods:
- Experimental binaural hearing aids with user-friendly controls were used.
- Subjects adjusted gain and bass-cut in both everyday and laboratory listening situations.
- Preferred insertion gain was compared against three established prescriptive fitting formulas.
Main Results:
- Prescriptive fitting methods overestimated preferred gain by approximately 10 dB.
- A gain reserve of about 15 dB is recommended for preliminary fittings.
- Individual users showed a sufficient gain range of approximately 11 dB across different situations.
Conclusions:
- Current prescriptive fitting methods may not accurately reflect the gain preferences of elderly, untrained hearing aid users.
- Allowing for a gain reserve and individual adjustment is essential for successful hearing aid fitting.
- Understanding intra-individual variability in gain preference is important for optimizing hearing aid use in diverse listening environments.