Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 28;37(12):e94.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e94.

Hearing and Speech Perception for People With Hearing Loss Using Personal Sound Amplification Products

Ga-Young Kim  1 , Sunyoung Kim  2 , Mini Jo  1 , Hye Yoon Seol  1   3 , Young Sang Cho  1   4 , Jihyun Lim  5 , Il Joon Moon  1   6
Affiliations

Hearing and Speech Perception for People With Hearing Loss Using Personal Sound Amplification Products

Ga-Young Kim et al. J Korean Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss (HL) is the most common chronic disease and has been linked to negative health outcomes. Hearing aids (HAs) are regarded as the gold standard for HL management, however, the adoption rate of HAs is relatively low for various reasons. With this background, hearing devices, such as personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) received significant attention as an alternative to conventional HAs. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of PSAPs in patients with mild to moderately severe HL.

Methods: Nineteen patients with mild hearing loss (MHL), 23 with moderate hearing loss (MDHL), and 15 with moderately severe hearing loss (MSHL) participated in the study. Electroacoustic analysis, simulated real-ear measurements (REMs), and three clinical evaluations were implemented.

Results: All devices satisfied the electroacoustic tolerances. All devices provided sufficient gain for MHL and MDHL audiograms. However, in MSHL audiogram, the gains of PSAPs were insufficient, especially for high frequencies. In terms of clinical evaluations, sound-field audiometry showed significant improvements between aided and unaided thresholds in all groups for all devices (P < 0.001). Significant improvements of word recognition scores were only shown for HAs between aided and unaided conditions. The Korean version of the Hearing In Noise Test did not show any consistent findings for all devices and groups.

Conclusion: Certain PSAPs are beneficial for improving hearing and speech perception in patients with HL. Well-chosen PSAPs could be an alternative hearing rehabilitation option for these patients.

Keywords: Hearing Aids; Hearing Loss; Personal Sound Amplification Products; Wearable Electronic Devices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Three virtual audiograms for real-ear measurements.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Simulated real-ear measurement results.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Deafness and hearing loss. [Updated 2021]. [Accessed May 20, 2021]. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss .
    1. Collins JG. Prevalence of selected chronic conditions: United States, 1990–1992. Vital Health Stat 10. 1997;(194):1–89. - PubMed
    1. Cosh S, Helmer C, Delcourt C, Robins TG, Tully PJ. Depression in elderly patients with hearing loss: current perspectives. Clin Interv Aging. 2019;14:1471–1480. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dalton DS, Cruickshanks KJ, Klein BE, Klein R, Wiley TL, Nondahl DM. The impact of hearing loss on quality of life in older adults. Gerontologist. 2003;43(5):661–668. - PubMed
    1. Lin FR, Yaffe K, Xia J, Xue QL, Harris TB, Purchase-Helzner E, et al. Health ABC Study Group. Hearing loss and cognitive decline in older adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173(4):293–299. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources