Multiple-channel non-linear power hearing instruments for children with severe hearing impairment: long-term follow-up

Abstract

The long-term benefits of multiple-channel non-linear technology for children with severe hearing impairment have yet to be fully investigated over the longer term. Twenty-one children with severe hearing loss participated in a study comparing performance on measures of audibility, speech understanding (in quiet and noise) and listening situations between the children's current analog hearing aids and a test hearing aid with multiple-channel non-linear compression (DigiFocus II Compact Power). Results were obtained from the children at 2 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 months and 12 months following the fitting of a multiple-channel non-linear hearing instrument. Compared with the children's own hearing instruments, the test instruments provided improved audibility, improvement in speech understanding in quiet and noise, and an improvement in listening skills. The gains in speech understanding were greater in noise than in quiet, suggesting that the test hearing instrument provided greatest improvement when listening to speech in noise. While performance increased over time, there was no statistically significant evidence to support continued acclimatization.