Performance characteristics for hearing aid microphone versus telephone and telephone/telecoil reception modes.

Two hearing aids and three telephone receivers were used to compare electroacoustic and word intelligibility data for hearing aid microphone reception versus telephone/telephone and telephone/telecoil reception. Measurements included test reference position gain and frequency response characteristics (Experiment 1) and word intelligibility scores (Experiment 2). The results indicated that performance was similar for hearing aid microphone reception and telephone/telephone reception.

The Hearing Handicap Scale as a measure of hearing aid benefit.

Use of the Hearing Handicap Scale as a measure of hearing aid benefit was investigated. New hearing aid users with bilateral, sensorineural hearing losses ranging from 5 dB HL to 55 dB HL served as subjects. Changes in speech reception threshold, word identification, and Hearing Handicap Scale were derived by comparing data obtained prior to hearing aid use with that obtained following four weeks of hearing aid use.

Hearing handicap scores and categories for subjects with normal and impaired hearing sensitivity.

The hearing handicap scale, a commonly used self-assessment measure, was administered to 50 subjects with normal hearing and hearing impairment. These subjects were then divided into three groups based on pure tone test results so that the range of hearing handicap scale scores could be determined for different hearing sensitivities. Subjects in one group of 20 exhibited hearing sensitivity of 10 dB hearing threshold level or better.