Assessment of acceptable noise level in unilateral hearing aid users

Abstract

Background and Aim: It is well known that hearing aid fitting is an effective approach to improve the communication ability of hearingimpaired people. In the past, most of the hearing aids were fitted unilaterally rather than bilaterally. Whereas the unilateral hearing aid fitting improves verbal communication partially, it causes late-onset auditory deprivation. The main aim of this study is to investigate the ANL for each ear among the users with unilateral hearing aid experience. Methods: A total of 23 participants were recruited (14 females, 9 males). The mean age was 74.65 years (ranged from 41 to 83). All subjects had bilateral symmetric sensorineural hearing loss. The most comfortable level (MCL), Background Noise Level (BNL), and acceptable noise level (ANL) were measured for ear with amplification experience and ear without experience. Results: MCL, BNL and ANL in the aided ear was 82.22, 73.48 and 8.74 respectively, in addition in the unaided ear the results for MCL, BNL and ANL was 81.78, 72.13 and 9.65 respectively. Comparing the mean values of MCL, BNL and ANL between two ears showed no significant difference. Conclusion: There was not any difference for BNL and ANL measures
 Keywords: Bilateral hearing loss; acceptable noise level; late onset auditory deprivation; Hearing aid

Prediction of Hearing Aid Use Success in Adults with Sensorineural Hearing Loss Using Acceptable Noise Level Test and Self-Assessment Questionnaire

“…ANL was 5.5 ± 1.06. in GII unaided conditions, the range of ANL for GII was (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) with a mean ± SD. 10.2 ± 2.82 and in aided, the ANL range was (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) with the mean ± SD. ANL 12.5 ± 2.82. there was a highly significant difference between regular unaided vs aided, regular aided vs irregular aided and regular aided vs irregular unaided (Table 2).…”

“…Many research addressed no significant correlation between audiogram configuration as well as ANL, yet based on jonas Brännström and Olsen, [16] findings, it exhibited significance. additionally, the ANL could exhibit greater values when the audiogram's slope is such that the average threshold before the 1 kHZ frequency exhibits significant variation from that of greater Frequencies [16,17] .…”

Acceptable Noise Level in Children with Unilateral Cochlear Implant and Bimodal Hearing

“…In addition, it has been shown that ANL can be a good predictor of hearing aid satisfaction; people with lower ANL have better suppression in the auditory efferent system and usually are more satisfied with their hearing aids [8]. The lower ANL indicates better noise tolerance [8][9][10][11][12][13]. The Persian version of this test was validated by Ahmadi et al using a running female-talker story with a 12-talker babble in children [12].…”