Self-Adjusted Amplification Parameters Produce Large Between-Subject Variability and Preserve Speech Intelligibility

The current study used the self-fitting algorithm to allow listeners to self-adjust hearing-aid gain or compression parameters to select gain for speech understanding in a variety of quiet and noise conditions. Thirty listeners with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss adjusted gain parameter...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Peggy B. Nelson, Trevor T. Perry, Melanie Gregan, Dianne VanTasell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-09-01
Series:Trends in Hearing
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2331216518798264
Description
Summary:The current study used the self-fitting algorithm to allow listeners to self-adjust hearing-aid gain or compression parameters to select gain for speech understanding in a variety of quiet and noise conditions. Thirty listeners with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss adjusted gain parameters in quiet and in several types of noise. Outcomes from self-adjusted gain and audiologist-fit gain indicated consistent within-subject performance but a great deal of between-subject variability. Gain selection did not strongly affect intelligibility within the range of signal-to-noise ratios tested. Implications from the findings are that individual listeners have consistent preferences for gain and may prefer gain configurations that differ greatly from National Acoustic Laboratories-based prescriptions in quiet and in noise.
ISSN:2331-2165