Self-Adjusted Amplification Parameters Produce Large Between-Subject Variability and Preserve Speech Intelligibility.
Peggy B Nelson, Trevor T Perry, Melanie Gregan and 1 others
PMID 30191767WHAT IT FOUND
Hearing aid users self-adjusted their devices to settings vastly different from clinical prescriptions, yet their speech understanding remained stable.
This suggests clinicians should not assume standard gain targets are the only acceptable option for comfort or clarity.
Key findings
01Participants showed large variability in self-adjusted gain compared to clinical prescriptions, with deviations ranging from -23.3 to +24.2 dB in low frequencies and -37.7 to +15.8 dB in high frequencies.
02Despite these large differences in gain, speech intelligibility scores were similar between self-adjusted and clinically prescribed settings.
03Users were consistent in their preferences across different noise levels, suggesting that individual gain choices are stable traits rather than random adjustments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a simulated hearing aid app on an iPod, not actual hearing aids, which may not fully replicate real-world listening. Only 17 of the 30 participants completed the speech intelligibility testing. The hearing losses were mild to moderate, so results may not apply to those with severe or profound loss. The study did not assess user preference or satisfaction, only gain settings and intelligibility.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The study used software developed by Ear Machine LLC, but no commercial conflicts of interest were explicitly declared in the text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that patients who deviate from clinical gain prescriptions are misusing their devices or will have poor speech understanding. The study found that large deviations from standard targets did not necessarily reduce intelligibility in this group.