The effect of hearing aid use on the user's residual hearing. II. A follow-up study

This paper reports on a follow-up study into the effect of hearing aid amplification on the residual hearing of 15 hearing-impaired children over a period of 6 years. The children, average age at the beginning of the study, 9.7 years (range 7.9--11.2 years), were using monaural commercial bodyworn hearing aids throughout this period with maximum acoustic outputs ranging from 116--136 dB SPL. The hearing levels of the children at 500 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz were ascertained both at the beginning of the investigation, at subsequent 6-monthly intervals for the first three years, at the end of the fourth year and at the end of the sixth year. It was found that the hearing acuity of the unaided ears showed slight "deterioration" in all frequencies tested.