Study of the long-term effects of frequency compression by behavioral verbal tests in adults

Abstract

PURPOSE: To verify the effect of long-term use of hearing aids with frequency compression for verbal behavior tests and daily activities. METHODS: Thirty-two adults, aged between 30 and 60 years old, with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss at high frequencies with steeply sloping configuration were divided into two groups: 16 with hearing aids with frequency compression algorithm enabled and 16 not enabled. All participants underwent the detection tests of consonant sounds, monosyllable recognition in quiet environments, identification of fricative monosyllables, and Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) questionnaire in five times throughout a 12-month trial. RESULTS: Detection of consonant sounds, recognition of monosyllables in quiet environments and identification of fricative monosyllables improved significantly with frequency compression enabled. Participants had their APHAB scores improved whether they were adapted to the frequency compression or not. CONCLUSION: Frequency compression provides the anticipated improvement in audibility, detection of high-frequency consonant sounds, and recognition of monosyllables.

Índice Percentual de Identificação de Fonemas Fricativos: proposta para avaliação da compressão de frequências

“…These results concur with the researched literature (9,22,23,24,25) . In one study, the use of a frequency transposition algorithm in hearing impaired individuals with presence of dead regions in the cochlea, from 1.5 kHz, was efficient in the identification of the phoneme / ∫ / and, in general, there was no Identification of the other phonemes of the English language.…”

“…In this same study, the authors demonstrated that the applied algorithm was effective to help in the detection of final fricatives / s, z /, when comparing the results obtained with the filtered speech (control) (9) . In Brazil, a recent study demonstrated that frequency compression in adults resulted in improved hearing, detection of phonemes / s, ∫ / and speech recognition, with progressive improvement over 12 months (22) . The present study found results that diverge from the aforementioned literature.…”

Harmonic Frequency Lowering

“…The vast majority of studies shows that NFC benefits speech intelligibility in hearing-impaired listeners, especially, in the perception of fricatives and affricatives ( Alexander, 2012 ; Alnahwi & AlQudehy, 2015 ; Bohnert, Nyffeler, & Keilmann, 2010 ; Ellis, 2012 ; Glista et al., 2009 ; Glista, Scollie, & Sulkers, 2012 ; Kopun et al., 2012 ; Marchesin & Iorio, 2015 ; McCreery et al., 2013, 2014 ; Nyffeler, 2008 ; Simpson, Hersbach, & McDermott, 2005 , 2006 ; Souza et al, 2013 ; Stender & Groth, 2014 ; Wolfe et al., 2010 , 2011 ).…”