Improving word understanding with hearing aids takes art as well as science

摘要

Patients with poor word understanding challenge our skills. They want to hear their friends and families. Yet, simplistic approaches like turning up the volume often backfire; the problem gets worse rather than better. This month, I want to , quickly review the science of improving word understanding and then discuss the fine art of improving itMost hard-of-hearing people hear well if you provide the necessary speech cues. Science tells us that the percentages of speech information in the five standard octave bands (250 to 4000 Hz) are: 8%, 14%, 22%, 23%, and 33%. The National Acoustic Labs (NAL) used this information to develop their recommended hearing aid fittings (real-ear targets). Our task is to ensure the hearing aids we fit provide the recommended amount of amplification in each zone.Once targets are matched, you have exhausted most of the science. To my knowledge, there are no other simple and straightforward science-based recommendations we can use.