Authors: Buse Çöllü¹, Şule Çekiç¹, Sinem Özbey¹, Beyza Tuncay¹, Tevhide Sıla İlhan¹
¹Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi
Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of different presentation methods—live voice (LV), free-field speaker (FFS), and phone speaker (PS)—on the hearing performance of hearing aid users.
Methods: This experimental study was conducted with eight bilateral hearing aid users over the age of 45. As a control group, age matched normal hearing ten subjects included. Single-syllable, three-syllable words and sentences test were presented via LV, PS and FFS. Speech reception scores were obtained and result were compared across groups.
Results: In assessments under different conditions, scores of hearing aid users were significantly lower (p < 0,05). PS condition caused lower scores in hearing aid users. Further more, single-syllable words were the most effected type. In the control group, no statistically significant differences were found among the three presentation methods across all stimulus types (p > 0.05). There is no significant difference between the control group and hearing aids useres regarding VAS scores under word test.
Conclusion: Across all presentation methods, hearing aid users performed worse in speech tests compared to those control patients, especially under PS condition. It is recommended that alternative presentation methods can be used beyond routine speech discrimination tests to better understand hearing performance. Further studies are needed.
Keywords: Hearing aids, speech perception, presentation methods, live voice, free-field speaker, phone speaker.
