The use of self-report measures to examine changes in perception in response to fittings using different signal processing parameters

Abstract

Clinicians have long used self-report methods to assess hearing aid benefit. However, there are fewer data as to whether self-report instruments can be used to compare differences between signal processing settings. This study examined how self-perceived performance varied as a function of modifications in signal processing using two self-report measures. Data were collected as part of a double-blind randomised crossover clinical trial. Participants were fit with two fittings: mild processing (slow time constants, disabled frequency lowering) and strong processing (fast time constants, frequency lowering enabled). The speech, spatial, and qualities of hearing (SSQ) questionnaire and the Effectiveness of Auditory Rehabilitation (EAR) questionnaire were collected at multiple time points. Older adults with sensorineural hearing loss who had not used hearing aids within the previous year participated (49 older adults were consented; 40 were included in the final data analyses). Findings show that listeners report a difference in perceived performance when hearing aid features are modified. Both self-report measures were able to capture this change in perceived performance. Self-report measures provide a tool for capturing changes in perceived performance when hearing aid processing features are modified and may enhance provision of an evidence-based hearing aid fitting.

Keywords:

• Hearing aid satisfaction
• hearing aid
• signal perception
• clinical trial

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Cynthia Erdos, Laura Mathews, Elizabeth McNichols, Arianna Mihalakakos, Kristin Sommerfeldt, Dorina Stori, Lauren Balmert and Melissa Sherman for their assistance with data collection and management; and Christine Jones and Olaf Strelcyk for project support. The project was a registered NIH clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02448706). Data management via REDCap is supported at Feinberg School of Medicine by the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Science (NUCATS) Institute.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

This project was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant R01 DC012289 to P. Souza and K. Arehart. Research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant no. UL1TR001422. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.