Speech perception of hearing impaired people using a hearing aid with noise supression algorithms.

UNLABELLED Often, individuals with hearing loss have difficulties understanding speech in noisy environments. AIM It was the aim of this study to assess the performance of adult individuals with sensorineural hearing loss, associated with speech perception using digital hearing aids with a sound reduction algorithm called Speech Sensitive Processing, on and off, in the presence of noise. MATERIALS AND METHODS This case study was performed with 32 individuals with sensorineural hearing loss of mild, moderate or mild to moderate level. Our evaluation involved a speech perception test, where we investigated the recognition of sentences in noise, in order to get a signal/noise ratio, with a digital hearing aid. Result DESCRIPTION The algorithm provided a benefit for most hearing impaired individuals, in the investigation of signal/noise ratio and the results pointed to a statistically significant difference when the algorithm was on, compared to when the algorithm was off. CONCLUSION The use of a sound reduction algorithm must be considered as a clinical alternative - since we observed an efficacy in noise reduction and heightened speech perception.