Language-specific strategy for programming hearing aids — A double-blind randomized controlled crossover study

Matsumoto, Nozomu; Suzuki, N.; Iwasaki, Satoshi; Ishikawa, Kazuha; Tsukiji, Hiroki; Higashino, Yoshie; Tabuki, Tomoko; Nakagawa, Takashi

doi:10.1016/j.anl.2017.11.007

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This result means that the VAC-Japanese enables the same intelligibility as the VAC. Matsumoto et al [17] verified the effectiveness between the VAC-Japanese and the VAC using a double-blind, randomized controlled cross-over study on the "Speech, Spatial and Qualities of hearing" scale (SSQ) [18] and a preference questionnaire for hearing-impaired Japanese. As a result, in the SSQ, no significant difference was found between the VAC-Japanese and the VAC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amplification rationale for hearing aids based on characteristics of the Japanese language

Shiraishi

Wada²,

Christiansen

et al. 2022

Auris Nasus Larynx

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Hearing aid amplification rationales have typically been developed by using global averages of the long-term average speech spectrum (LTASS) from Western European languages. However, there are few reports on hearing-aid amplification based on acoustic-phonetic characteristics of the Japanese language. This study's objective is to investigate the LTASS for Japanese, and to compare a typical amplification rationale originally developed mainly for Western European languages with an amplification rationale specifically adjusted to the LTASS for Japanese.Methods: LTASS for two speech materials provided by four Japanese talkers were analyzed using 1/3 octave bandwidth filters. The speech was recorded with different levels of vocal effort, yielding three LTASS for "soft", "moderate" and "loud" speech. From these results, a gain offset of the hearing-aid amplification for Japanese was obtained as compared to ANSI S3.5. Speech intelligibility for an amplification rationale for Western European languages and the newly-developed Japanese version was obtained for presentation levels of 50 dB SPL, 65 dB SPL and 80 dB SPL. Nineteen people with mild to moderate hearing loss participated in the speech intelligibility experiment. Scores in% correct were arcsine-transformed and subjected to repeated measures ANOVA with pairwise comparisons of significant main effects using Bonferroni adjustments for multiple comparisons. Results:The LTASS for Japanese was slightly different from the values of previous reports. A comparison of LTASS values to ANSI S3.5 with values for Japanese showed that the Japanese amplification rationale for "moderate" speech levels required more gain in the low-frequency area, and less gain in the high-frequency area. There was no significant difference in the speech intelligibility level between the amplification characteristics of Western European languages and Japanese language at each presentation level. Conclusion:It was shown that for hearing-aid amplification for Japanese, adjustments based on LTASS differences for Western European Languages could be made. This preserved speech intelligibility at the same level as the original amplification rationale, suggesting that there was no need to consider differences in phonetics of Japanese to optimize speech understanding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amplification rationale for hearing aids based on characteristics of the Japanese language

Shiraishi

Wada²,

Christiansen

et al. 2022

Auris Nasus Larynx

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“…When "Japanese" is selected in NAL-NL2, the low tone gain is set to be slightly higher than when "European" is selected because Japanese is a tonal language and the low tone is regarded as being more important in a tonal than in a non-tonal lan-guage [2] . Furthermore, previous reports have indicated that, in soft to moderate level conversations, the Japanese language requires amplification of the low tone region (0.5-1.0 Hz) more than the European languages, and that a Japanese prescriptive method that modifies existing prescriptive methods based on European language would be favorable for use by Japanese-speaking subjects [10] . The low tones in this study were lower than the target value for the European language setting; despite these observations, it was an unexpected result.…”

Section: Sufficient Benefit Earsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of real-ear insertion gains in Japanese-speaking individuals wearing hearing aids with DSLv5 and NAL-NL2

et al. 2021

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We used real-ear insertion gain (REIG), with the international speech test signal (ISTS), to evaluate the amplifying characteristics of hearing aids, set for patients who have been wearing such aids for a long time in a stable manner. We further compared this to the target values of the DSLv5 and NAL-NL2 methods. Methods: The subjects were adults with moderate sensorineural hearing loss. We examined 40 ears in 25 individuals (15 people wearing hearing aids in both ears and ten people wearing aid in only one ear). Fit assessments were performed based on the speech performance-intensity functions and tolerance of environmental noise, and the ears studied were categorized as either ears with sufficient benefit or ears with insufficient benefit. Additionally, we evaluated the REIG for international speech test signals at 65-dB and 80-dB sound pressure level (SPL). We compared the REIG and target values for voice input at 65-dB and 80-dB SPL, calculated from the DSLv5 and NAL-NL2 methods. Results: Among the 40 ears, 34 received sufficient benefit and six received an insufficient benefit from hearing aids. The REIG for ISTS at 65-dB in the sufficient benefit ears, at frequencies of 1,000 Hz and 2,000 Hz, were similar to the target values of NAL-NL2 and DSLv5 but were significantly lower at 250 Hz, 500 Hz, and 4,000 Hz frequencies. The compression ratio of REIG for sufficient benefit ears was similar to that of DSLv5. The REIG for ISTS at 65-dB in the insufficient benefit ears was smaller than that in the sufficient benefit ears at frequencies of 2,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz. Conclusion: This study suggested that the target values of NAL-NL2 and DSLv5 are appropriate, even for Japanese-speaking individuals, at mid-pitch sounds. Although it is necessary to investigate the necessity for low-pitch and high-pitch gains further in the future, this study provides meaningful data regarding the amplifying characteristics in Japanese-speaking individuals who have been wearing hearing aids in a stable manner.

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Language-specific strategy for programming hearing aids — A double-blind randomized controlled crossover study

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

Amplification rationale for hearing aids based on characteristics of the Japanese language

Amplification rationale for hearing aids based on characteristics of the Japanese language

Comparison of real-ear insertion gains in Japanese-speaking individuals wearing hearing aids with DSLv5 and NAL-NL2

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