Tone perception in Cantonese-speaking children with hearing aids.

Objectives: In this study we investigated the benefit of using hearing aids for Cantonese tone perception among children with various degrees of hearing impairment.

Methods: Forty-eight children with moderate to profound hearing loss were investigated. They were required to perform a lexical tone perception test with recorded test stimuli presented at 65 dB in soundproof booths. To allow for comparison, the subjects performed the test under 2 conditions: with their hearing aids turned off (unaided condition) and with them turned on (aided condition).

Results: The mean tone perception scores for the aided condition were higher than those for the unaided condition across all of the subject groups. Paired sample t-tests showed statistically significant improvement in tone perception in the moderate and severe hearing loss groups (p = .02 and p = .03, respectively). The result obtained from the moderately severe hearing loss group was marginally significant (p = .058). The improvement in tone perception in the profound hearing loss group was insignificant (p = .55).

Conclusions: The use of a hearing aid is beneficial for Cantonese tone perception in children who have moderate to severe hearing impairment. When a hearing loss is greater than 90 dB, ie, in children who are classified as having profound hearing loss, a hearing aid is not effective in aiding Cantonese tone perception.