Estimating Real-World Performance of Percutaneously Coupled Bone-Conduction Device Users With Severe-to-Profound Unilateral Hearing Loss.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-14-2020

Publication Title

American journal of audiology

Abstract

Purpose The bone-conduction device attached to a percutaneous screw (BCD) is an important treatment option for individuals with severe-to-profound unilateral hearing loss (UHL). Clinicians may use subjective questionnaires and speech-in-noise measures to evaluate BCD use in this patient population; however, the translation of these metrics to real-world aided performance is unclear. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to measure speech-in-noise performance in BCD users with severe-to-profound UHL in a simulated real-world environment, relative to individuals with normal hearing bilaterally; second, to determine if BCD users' subjective reports of aided performance relate to simulated real-world performance. Method A between-subjects design with two groups was conducted with 14 adults with severe-to-profound UHL (BCD group) and 10 age-matched participants with normal hearing bilaterally (control group). Speech-in-noise tests were administered in an eight-speaker R-Space simulating a real-world environment. To further explore speech-in-noise evaluation methods for this population, testing was also completed in a clinically common two-speaker array. The effects of various microphone settings on performance were explored for BCD users. Subjective performance was measured with the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB; Cox & Alexander, 1995) and the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (Gatehouse & Noble, 2004). Statistical analyses to explore relationships between variables included repeated-measures analysis of variance, regression analyses, independent-samples

Clinical Institute

Neurosciences (Brain & Spine)

Department

Neurosciences

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