The SSI and NU6 in clinical hearing aid evaluation

The Synthetic Sentence Identification (SSI) and the Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (NU6) were compared in a hearing aid evaluation procedure using normal-hearing listeners and subjects with sensorineural hearing loss. Listener performance was assessed at three message-to-competition ratios (MCR) employing the same competing message. Aided benefit and residual deficit were evaluated for both measures and, in general, the results obtained with the NU6 indicated greater aided benefit as well as greater residual deficit than the SSI for these hearing-impaired subjects. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for clinical hearing aid evaluations.