Advantages of Binaural Amplification to Acceptable Noise Level of Directional Hearing Aid Users
2
조회
0
다운로드
4
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
Objectives. The goal of the present study was to examine whether Acceptable Noise Levels (ANLs) would be lower (greater acceptance of noise) in binaural listening than in monaural listening condition and also whether meaningfulness of background speech noise would affect ANLs for directional microphone hearing aid users. In addition, any relationships between the individual binaural benefits on ANLs and the individuals’ demographic information were investigated. Methods. Fourteen hearing aid users (mean age, 64 years) participated for experimental testing. For the ANL calculation, listeners’ most comfortable listening levels and background noise level were measured. Using Korean ANL material, ANLs of all participants were evaluated under monaural and binaural amplification with a counterbalanced order. The ANLs were also compared across five types of competing speech noises, consisting of 1- through 8-talker back- ground speech maskers. Seven young normal-hearing listeners (mean age, 27 years) participated for the same mea- surements as a pilot testing. Results. The results demonstrated that directional hearing aid users accepted more noise (lower ANLs) with binaural ampli- fication than with monaural amplification, regardless of the type of competing speech. When the background speech noise became more meaningful, hearing-impaired listeners accepted less amount of noise (higher ANLs), revealing that ANL is dependent on the intelligibility of the competing speech. The individuals’ binaural advantages in ANLs were significantly greater for the listeners with longer experience of hearing aids, yet not related to their age or hear- ing thresholds. Conclusion. Binaural directional microphone processing allowed hearing aid users to accept a greater amount of back- ground noise, which may in turn improve listeners’ hearing aid success. Informational masking substantially influ- enced background noise acceptance. Given a significant association between ANLs and duration of hearing aid usage, ANL measurement can be useful for clinical counseling of binaural hearing aid candidates or unsuccessful users.
Abstract
Objectives. The goal of the present study was to examine whether Acceptable Noise Levels (ANLs) would be lower (greater acceptance of noise) in binaural listening than in monaural listening condition and also whether meaningfulness of background speech noise would affect ANLs for directional microphone hearing aid users. In addition, any relationships between the individual binaural benefits on ANLs and the individuals’ demographic information were investigated. Methods. Fourteen hearing aid users (mean age, 64 years) participated for experimental testing. For the ANL calculation, listeners’ most comfortable listening levels and background noise level were measured. Using Korean ANL material, ANLs of all participants were evaluated under monaural and binaural amplification with a counterbalanced order. The ANLs were also compared across five types of competing speech noises, consisting of 1- through 8-talker back- ground speech maskers. Seven young normal-hearing listeners (mean age, 27 years) participated for the same mea- surements as a pilot testing. Results. The results demonstrated that directional hearing aid users accepted more noise (lower ANLs) with binaural ampli- fication than with monaural amplification, regardless of the type of competing speech. When the background speech noise became more meaningful, hearing-impaired listeners accepted less amount of noise (higher ANLs), revealing that ANL is dependent on the intelligibility of the competing speech. The individuals’ binaural advantages in ANLs were significantly greater for the listeners with longer experience of hearing aids, yet not related to their age or hear- ing thresholds. Conclusion. Binaural directional microphone processing allowed hearing aid users to accept a greater amount of back- ground noise, which may in turn improve listeners’ hearing aid success. Informational masking substantially influ- enced background noise acceptance. Given a significant association between ANLs and duration of hearing aid usage, ANL measurement can be useful for clinical counseling of binaural hearing aid candidates or unsuccessful users.
참고문헌 (30)
- Taylor B, "The Acceptable Noise Level Test as a predictor of real-world hearing aid benefit", Hear J, 61(9), pp.39~42 (2008)
- Bentler RA, "Longitudinal study of hearing aid effectiveness. II: Subjective measures", J Speech Hear Res, 36(4), pp.820~831 (1993)
- Nabelek AK, "Toleration of background noises: relationship with patterns of hearing aid use by elderly persons", J Speech Hear Res, 34(3), pp.679~685 (1991)
- Nabelek AK, "Acceptable noise level as a predictor of hearing aid use", J Am Acad Audiol, 17(9), pp.626~639 (2006)
- Nabelek AK, "Comparison of speech perception in background noise with acceptance of background noise in aided and unaided conditions", J Speech Lang Hear Res, 47(5), pp.1001~1011 (2004)
- Rogers DS, "The influence of listener’s gender on the acceptance of background noise", J Am Acad Audiol, 14(7), pp.372~382 (2003)
- Freyaldenhoven MC, "Acceptance of noise with monaural and binaural amplification", J Am Acad Audiol, 17(9), pp.659~666 (2006)
- Holmes AE, "Bilateral amplification for the elderly: are two aids better than one?", Int J Audiol, 42(Suppl 2), pp.2S63~2S67 (2003)
- Freyaldenhoven MC, "Acceptable noise level as a measure of directional hearing aid benefit", J Am Acad Audiol, 16(4), pp.228~236 (2005)
- Ricketts T, "The impact of head angle on monaural and binaural performance with directional and omnidirectional hearing aids", Ear Hear, 21(4), pp.318~328 (2000)
- Ricketts TA, "Directional hearing aids: then and now", J Rehabil Res Dev, 42(4 Suppl 2), pp.133~144 (2005)
- Hornsby BW, "Effects of noise source configuration on directional benefit using symmetric and asymmetric directional hearing aid fittings", Ear Hear, 28(2), pp.177~186 (2007)
- 신진배, "Effects of the Target Talker Gender and the Number of Competing Talkers on Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) of Korean Normal-Hearing Adults", Audiology and Speech Research, 6(2), pp.146~152 (2010), 한국청각언어재활학회
- 백은주, "인공와우 착용 성인의 수용소음레벨 (Acceptable Noise Level, ANL)과 자가보고된 주관적 어려움 측정 연구", Audiology and Speech Research, 8(2), pp.196~203 (2012), 한국청각언어재활학회
- Alexander JM, "Informational masking in hearing-impaired and normal-hearing listeners: sensation level and decision weights", J Acoust Soc Am, 116(4 Pt 1), pp.2234~2247 (2004)
- Kidd G Jr, "Informational masking in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss", J Assoc Res Otolaryngol, 3(2), pp.107~119 (2002)
- Erdman SA, "Subjective comparisons of binaural versus monaural amplification", Ear Hear, 2(5), pp.225~229 (1981)
- Noble W, "Effects of bilateral versus unilateral hearing aid fitting on abilities measured by the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ)", Int J Audiol, 45(3), pp.172~181 (2006)
- Gatehouse S, "The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ)", Int J Audiol, 43(2), pp.85~99 (2004)
- Stephens SD, "Acceptability of binaural hearing aids: a cross-over study", J R Soc Med, 84(5), pp.267~269 (1991)
- Boymans M, "A prospective multi-centre study of the benefits of bilateral hearing aids", Ear Hear, 29(6), pp.930~941 (2008)
- Ricketts T, "Impact of noise source configuration on directional hearing aid benefit and performance", Ear Hear, 21(3), pp.194~205 (2000)
- Gordon-Hickey S, "Acceptance of noise with intelligible, reversed, and unfamiliar primary discourse", Am J Audiol, 17(2), pp.129~135 (2008)
- Durlach NI, "Shinn-Cunningham BG. Note on informational masking", J Acoust Soc Am, 113(6), pp.2984~2987 (2003)
- Lee JH, "Effect of fundamental-frequency and sentence-onset differences on speech-identification performance of young and older adults in a competing-talker background", J Acoust Soc Am, 132(3), pp.1700~1717 (2012)
- Freyman RL, "Effect of number of masking talkers and auditory priming on informational masking in speech recognition", J Acoust Soc Am, 115(5 Pt 1), pp.2246~2256 (2004)
- Donaldson GS, "BKB-SIN and ANL predict perceived communication ability in cochlear implant users", Ear Hear, 30(4), pp.401~410 (2009)
- Vaughan-Jones RH, "One aid or two? More visits please!", J Laryngol Otol, 107(4), pp.329~332 (1993)
- Walden TC, "Unilateral versus bilateral amplification for adults with impaired hearing", J Am Acad Audiol, 16(8), pp.574~584 (2005)
- Van den Bogaert T, "Horizontal localization with bilateral hearing aids: without is better than with", J Acoust Soc Am, 119(1), pp.515~526 (2006)