Evaluation of a Frequency-Lowering Algorithm for Adults With High-Frequency Hearing Loss

The objective was to determine the effects of a frequency-lowering algorithm (frequency composition, Fcomp) on consonant identification, word-final /s, z/ detection, the intelligibility of sentences in noise, and subjective benefit, for people with high-frequency hearing loss, including people with dead regions (DRs) in the cochlea. A single-blind randomized crossover design was used. Performance with Bernafon Acriva 9 hearing aids was compared with Fcomp off and Fcomp on. Participants wore the hearing aids in each condition in a counterbalanced order. Data were collected after at least 8 weeks of experience with a condition. Outcome measures were audibility, scores from the speech perception tests, and scores from a questionnaire comparing self-perceived hearing ability with Fcomp off and Fcomp on. Ten adults with mild to severe high-frequency hearing loss (seven with extensive DRs, one with patchy or restricted DRs, and two with no DR) were tested. Fcomp improved the audibility of high-frequency sounds for 6 out of 10 participants. There was no overall effect of Fcomp on consonant identification, but the pattern of consonant confusions varied across conditions and participants. For word-final /s, z/ detection, performance was significantly better with Fcomp on than with Fcomp off. Questionnaire scores showed no differences between conditions. In summary, Fcomp improved word-final /s, z/ detection. No benefit was found for the other measures.