Speech recognition, loudness, and preference with extended bandwidth hearing aids for adult hearing aid users

Eeckhoutte, Maaike Van; Folkeard, Paula; Glista, Danielle; Scollie, Susan

doi:10.1080/14992027.2020.1750718

Cited by 17 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The provision of an EBW via modern devices yielded beneficial results in a recent multi-outcome study with adult hearing aid users (Van Eeckhoutte et al, 2020). This study demonstrated better perception of high-frequency phonemes (/s/, /z/, and /t/) in noise, with no adverse changes in loudness perception or preferred listening levels (PLLs).…”

mentioning

confidence: 72%

“…The outcomes of this clinical study indicated that the speech recognition benefits of EBW in wearable hearing aids were largely in line with those reported in previous studies and that the fittings were acceptable in real-world use and for aided loudness levels. All the adult participants in the study of Van Eeckhoutte et al (2020) had mild-to-moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss and were fitted with receiver-in-canal (RIC) devices to the Desired Sensation Level (DSL) v5.0 adult prescription. While these results may be typical for adults, one might expect differences in a clinical population of aided children.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Perceptual Benefits of Extended Bandwidth Hearing Aids With Children: A Within-Subject Design Using Clinically Available Hearing Aids

Eeckhoutte

Scollie

O'Hagan

et al. 2020

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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Purpose The aim of the study was to investigate the achieved audibility with clinically available, modern, high-end, behind-the-ear hearing aids fitted using the Desired Sensation Level v5.0 child prescription for a clinical sample of children with hearing impairment and the effect of the extended bandwidth provided by the hearing aids on several outcome measures. Method The achieved audibility was measured using the maximum audible output frequency method. Twenty-eight children (7–17 years old) with mild to severe hearing losses completed this study. Two hearing aid conditions were fitted for each participant: an extended bandwidth condition, which was fitted to targets as closely as possible, and a restricted bandwidth condition, for which aided output was restricted above 4.5 kHz. Consonant discrimination in noise, subjective preference, aided loudness growth, and preferred listening levels were evaluated in both conditions. Results The extended bandwidth hearing aid fittings provided speech audibility above 4.5 kHz for all children, with an average maximum audible output frequency of 7376 Hz ( SD = 1669 Hz). When compared to a restricted bandwidth, the extended bandwidth condition led to an improvement of 5.4% for consonant discrimination in noise scores, mostly attributable to /s/, /z/, and /t/ phoneme perception. Aided loudness results and preferred listening levels were not significantly different across bandwidth conditions; however, 65% of the children indicated a subjective preference for the extended bandwidth. Conclusion The study suggests that providing the full bandwidth available, with modern, behind-the-ear hearing aids, leads to improved audibility, when compared to restricted bandwidth hearing aids, and that it leads to beneficial outcomes for children who use hearing aids, fitted to the Desired Sensation Level v5.0 child prescription, without causing significant increases in their loudness perception.

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confidence: 72%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptual Benefits of Extended Bandwidth Hearing Aids With Children: A Within-Subject Design Using Clinically Available Hearing Aids

Eeckhoutte

Scollie

O'Hagan

et al. 2020

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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“…We found evidence for a relationship between EHF pure-tone sensitivity and speech-in-noise scores when listeners have no substantial hearing loss at EHFs. Implications include that the preservation of spectral detail at EHFs may be beneficial in ongoing efforts to extend the bandwidth of hearing aids and other devices ( Arbogast et al., 2019 ; Seeto & Searchfield, 2018 ; Van Eeckhoutte et al., 2020 ) or to restore audibility using frequency lowering or other amplification techniques ( Alexander & Rallapalli, 2017 ; McCreery et al., 2014 ). Furthermore, the continued use of speech materials that are bandlimited by recording sampling rate and/or transducer frequency response for speech-in-noise testing in the clinic and the laboratory precludes the beneficial effects of EHF hearing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended High Frequencies Provide Both Spectral and Temporal Information to Improve Speech-in-Speech Recognition

Trine

Monson

2020

Trends in Hearing

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Several studies have demonstrated that extended high frequencies (EHFs; >8 kHz) in speech are not only audible but also have some utility for speech recognition, including for speech-in-speech recognition when maskers are facing away from the listener. However, the contribution of EHF spectral versus temporal information to speech recognition is unknown. Here, we show that access to EHF temporal information improved speech-in-speech recognition relative to speech bandlimited at 8 kHz but that additional access to EHF spectral detail provided an additional small but significant benefit. Results suggest that both EHF spectral structure and the temporal envelope contribute to the observed EHF benefit. Speech recognition performance was quite sensitive to masker head orientation, with a rotation of only 15° providing a highly significant benefit. An exploratory analysis indicated that pure-tone thresholds at EHFs are better predictors of speech recognition performance than low-frequency pure-tone thresholds.

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“…The impact of degree of variation away from targets was also not assessed in the present study; fittings that are fine-tuned away from targets may provide different perceptual outcomes, benefits, or subjective outcomes compared with fittings that are tuned closely to target. One recent study examined this issue with regards to extended bandwidth amplification 22 but more research is necessary to relate deviation from target to hearing aid outcomes in a more general sense.…”

Section: Study Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rates of hearing aid use also remain relatively low despite the positive impacts of amplification. [16][17][18] Studies in both children and in adults have observed that poorer fit to prescriptive targets, as well as nonuse of verification in general, are associated with lower rates of hearing aid use, 19 poorer speech recognition and/or decreased self-perception of benefit, [20][21][22] decreased self-perceived benefit of hearing aid use, 3,9,20 and higher satisfaction rates when used in an audiologist-provided service delivery model compared with a consumer-decides service model. 23 Goodness of fit-to-target for adult hearing aid fittings has improved over the past decade.…”

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confidence: 99%

Fit-to-Targets and Aided Speech Intelligibility Index Values for Hearing Aids Fitted to the DSL v5-Adult Prescription

et al. 2020

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Background Matching hearing aid output levels to prescribed targets is a component of preferred practice, yet recent normative data on appropriateness of fittings are lacking. Verification measures that assess closeness of fit-to-target include raw deviations from target, root-mean-squared-error (RMSE) deviations from target, and aided Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) values. Establishing normative ranges for these measures may help hearing professionals determine whether a patient's fit-to-targets and/or aided speech audibility is typical for his or her degree of hearing loss. Purpose This article aims to characterize the range of fit-to-target and the range of aided SII associated with hearing aid fittings using the Desired Sensation Level version 5.0 (DSL v5-adult) prescription with adults, considering also hearing aid style, venting, and audiometric characteristics. Research design A descriptive and correlational study of data collected from a retrospective chart review. Results Hearing aid fittings to 281 ears were compiled. The four-frequency average deviation from target (RMSE) was within ± 5 dB of target in 77% of fittings for mid-level speech. Deviation from targets increased with hearing loss, particularly when the loss is greater than 85 dB hearing level or if the loss was steeply sloping. Venting increased the deviation from targets in the low frequencies. Aided SII values strongly correlated with the participants' hearing thresholds. Clinical ranges for RMSE and aided SII were developed for characterization of fitting outcomes. Conclusion Fitting to DSL v5-adult targets was observed within ± 5 dB absolute deviation, or within 5 dB RMSE, on average for typical adult hearing aid fittings. Confidence intervals for deviation from target and aided SII are proposed.

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Speech recognition, loudness, and preference with extended bandwidth hearing aids for adult hearing aid users

Cited by 17 publications

References 80 publications

Perceptual Benefits of Extended Bandwidth Hearing Aids With Children: A Within-Subject Design Using Clinically Available Hearing Aids

Perceptual Benefits of Extended Bandwidth Hearing Aids With Children: A Within-Subject Design Using Clinically Available Hearing Aids

Extended High Frequencies Provide Both Spectral and Temporal Information to Improve Speech-in-Speech Recognition

Fit-to-Targets and Aided Speech Intelligibility Index Values for Hearing Aids Fitted to the DSL v5-Adult Prescription

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