Towards Auditory Profile-Based Hearing-Aid Fittings: BEAR Rationale and Clinical Implementation.

(1) Background: To improve hearing-aid rehabilitation, the Danish 'Better hEAring Rehabilitation' (BEAR) project recently developed methods for individual hearing loss characterization and hearing-aid fitting. Four auditory profiles differing in terms of audiometric hearing loss and supra-threshold hearing abilities were identified. To enable auditory profile-based hearing-aid treatment, a fitting rationale leveraging differences in gain prescription and signal-to-noise (SNR) improvement was developed.

Can real-ear insertion gain deviations from generic fitting prescriptions predict self-reported outcomes?

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the differences in insertion gains from the first fit to generic prescriptions of hearing aids can predict the self-reported hearing aid (HA) outcomes for first-time and experienced HA users.

Design: This was a prospective observational study.

Study Sample: The study included 885 first-time and 330 experienced HA users with a valid real-ear measurement on both ears and answers to the abbreviated version of the Speech, Spatial, and Quality of Hearing (SSQ12) and the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) questionnaires.

Hearing Aid-Related Standards and Test Systems.

Many documents describe standardized methods and standard equipment requirements in the field of audiology and hearing aids. These standards will ensure a uniform level and a high quality of both the methods and equipment used in audiological work. The standards create the basis for measuring performance in a reproducible manner and independent from how and when and by whom parameters have been measured.