How to evaluate the effects of a hearing aid

Hey doctor, how do i know your hearing aids is good? Yes, there is the methods of hearing aid effect evaluation include sound field test, hearing aid threshold, speech test, real ear analysis, and questionnaire.

1.Hearing aid hearing threshold evaluation:

Verification of the sound adjustment of the hearing aid by waving the smallest sound that can be heard after wearing the hearing aid, which is one of the most widely used verification methods.

2. Questionnaire survey evaluation:

It refers to whether the hearing aids after fitting can achieve the desired effect. Audiologists need to make subjective judgments on the benefit effect and final effect of the patient through a standardized questionnaire. This method is used more abroad.

3. Speech test:

After wearing the hearing aid, play the recorded vocabulary list through headphones or speakers. This list is divided into monosyllables, two-syllables and short sentences. When the user hears a word, he repeats it, and records the number of correct and incorrect repeats. Doing a speech test in hearing aid fitting can help us accurately understand whether the volume of adult hearing aids is appropriate for speech communication, whether the parameter adjustment and setting of hearing aids are reasonable, and what effects can we achieve after wearing hearing aids. If the effect is not ideal, we should How to improve our verbal communication skills, etc. Therefore, speech testing has become an integral part of our adult hearing aid fitting.

4. Real ear analysis:

According to the difference of each person’s ear canal, the professional real ear analysis instrument is used for personalized and precise adjustment. Conventional hearing aid fitting only does post-hearing sound field test or debugging by asking subjective feelings. The error of debugging parameters is large, and patient satisfaction is low. Therefore, in order to achieve accurate fitting, the actual output of the hearing aid must be combined with the real ear test to achieve the target. Studies have shown that the accuracy of the real-ear test to evaluate the gain is 3dB, while the sound field functional evaluation gain is about 15dB. It can be seen that the real-ear test is the most accurate method for evaluating the amplification effect of hearing aids. For children, it can be worn after the real ear test and behavioral function verification.

5.Routine inquiry and debugging:

Generally, after the above objective debugging, the average adult will have slightly different needs according to the different subjective consciousness of each individual. The revitalization is more serious, as well as the structural changes of the outer and middle ears and the inability to adapt to hearing aids after the replacement of hearing aids, etc., can also be solved by accurately adjusting the gain parameters of hearing aids according to individual specific needs.

In general, the evaluation of hearing aid effects has the characteristics of diversity and complexity, and it also varies from person to person. However, as long as patients can consider their hearing aids from the above three aspects, the effect of hearing aids can be more objectively and accurately defined.