| dc.description.abstract | OBJECTIVE—To examine the impact of prescription on predicted speech intelligibility and
loudness for children.
DESIGN—A between-group comparison of Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) and loudness, based
on hearing aids fitted according to NAL-NL1, DSL v4.1, or DSL m[i/o] prescriptions. A withingroup
comparison of gains prescribed by DSL m[i/o] and NAL-NL2 for children in terms of SII
and loudness.
STUDY SAMPLE—Participants were 200 children , who were randomly assigned to first
hearing-aid fitting with either NAL-NL1, DSL v4.1, or DSL m[i/o]. Audiometric data and hearing
aid data at 3 years of age were used.
RESULTS—On average, SII calculated on the basis of hearing-aid gains were higher for DSL
than for NAL-NL1 at low input level, equivalent at medium input level, and higher for NAL-NL1
than DSL at high input level. Greater loudness was associated with DSL than with NAL-NL1,
across a range of input levels. Comparing NAL-NL2 and DSL m[i/o] target gains revealed higher
SII for the latter at low input level. SII was higher for NAL-NL2 than for DSL m[i/o] at mediumand
high-input levels despite greater loudness for gains prescribed by DSL m[i/o] than by NALNL2.
CONCLUSION—The choice of prescription has minimal effects on speech intelligibility
predictions but marked effects on loudness predictions. | en_US |
