Case Study of Auditory Training for Long-Term Users of Hearing Aids with Poor Word Recognition

Abstract

Purpose: Auditory training involves active listening to auditory stimuli. Auditory training has been reported to enhance performance in various auditory tasks, supplementing the limitation of hearing aids. The purpose of this case was to determine efficacy of 10-week auditory training for two hearing aids (HA) users even though they have used hearing aids more than 10 years but having little satisfaction on their HAs. Methods: We conducted a 10-week in-laboratory audiotory training (one session per week, about 1 hour per session). Four types of materials (environmental sounds, consonants, sentences, and crossword quiz) were used as training stimuli. Difficulty level for training was adjusted focusing on the use of an adaptive method. To examine the efficacy of the 10-week training, the recognition abilities of environmental sounds, consonants, words, and sentences were compared before and immediately after the training. As a subjective outcome, the Korean Evaluation Scale for Hearing Handicap (KESHH) questionnaire was also conducted before and after training. To examine retention of training effects, we conducted the same evaluations at 10-week, one month and seven months after the completion of training. Results: The recognition scores of all stimuli were improved immediately after 10-week training. The results of the self-reported questionnaire of KESHH demonstrated that auditory training reduced subjective handicap from impaired hearing, indicating that auditory training positively affected individual's subjective satisfaction of HA. The training efficacy appeared to be maintained even seven months after the completion of training. Conclusion: Auditory training was effective to improve recognition performance as well as the subjective satisfaction of own HA for unsatisfactory HA users.