A Personal Sound Amplification Product Compared to aBasic Hearing Aid for Speech Intelligibility in Adults withMild-to-Moderate Sensorineural Hearing Loss
- Author:
Ji Eun CHOI
1
;
Jinryoul KIM
;
Sung Hoon YOON
;
Sung Hwa HONG
;
Il Joon MOON
Author Information
- Publication Type:ORIGINAL ARTICLE
- From:Journal of Audiology & Otology 2020;24(2):91-98
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: This study aimed to compare functional hearing with the use ofa personal sound amplification product (PSAP) or a basic hearing aid (HA) among sensorineuralhearing impaired listeners. Subjects and Methods: Nineteen participants with mild-to-moderatesensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) (26-55 dB HL; pure-tone average, 0.5-4 kHz) wereprospectively included. No participants had prior experience with HAs or PSAPs. Audiograms,speech intelligibility in both quiet and noisy environments, speech quality, and preference wereassessed in three different listening conditions: unaided, with the HA, and with the PSAP. Results:The use of PSAP was associated with significant improvement in pure-tone thresholds at 1, 2,and 4 kHz compared to the unaided condition (all p<0.01). In the quiet environment, speechintelligibility was significantly improved after wearing a PSAP compared to the unaided condition(p<0.001), and this improvement was better than the result obtained with the HA. The PSAPalso demonstrated similar improvement in the most comfortable levels compared to those obtainedwith the HA (p<0.05). However, there was no significant improvement of speech intelligibilityin a noisy environment when wearing the PSAP (p=0.160). There was no significant differencein the reported speech quality produced by either device or in participant preference for thePSAP or HA. Conclusions: The current result suggests that PSAPs provide considerable benefitsto speech intelligibility in a quiet environment and can be a good alternative to compensatefor mild-to-moderate SNHL. J Audiol Otol 2020;24(2):91-98
