TITLE:
Sensori-Neural Hearing Loss Client’s Performance with Receiver-In-Canal (RIC) Hearing Aids
AUTHORS:
S. G. R. Prakash, Ravichandran Aparna, S. B. Rathna Kumar, Tamsekar Madhav, Kaki Ashritha, Kande Navyatha
KEYWORDS:
Sensori Neural Hearing Loss; RIC Hearing Aids; Functional Gain Measures
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.2 No.2,
March
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Individuals fitted with hearing aids complain of the unnatural sound quality of their voice, other internally generated sounds such as chewing and swallowing sounds “hollow”, “muffled” sounds. Receiver-In-Canal hearing aids are favored due to small size, discrete appearance and ability to minimize occlusion. Aim: To compare the performance of Receiver-In-Canal (RIC) to traditional ear tip (ET), ear moulds (EM) fittings using Functional gain measures. Method: Ten subjects with flat moderately severe sensori neural hearing loss participated in the study. Subjective unaided and aided measures for digital BTE hearing aids with ear tip, ear mould or Receiver-In-Canal for pure tones of 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 4000 Hz were obtained. Results and Discussion: Higher scores were obtained with Receiver-In-Canal fitting on Functional gain measures. No significant difference between all the three conditions was obtained at low frequencies especially at 500 Hz, as Receiver-In-Canal hearing aids attenuate low frequency sounds automatically when the ear is left open (up to 30 dB less amplification at 500 Hz) especially for hearing in noisy situations. Conclusion: The results suggest that Receiver-In-Canal fittings are an effective means of overcoming the major barriers to the acceptance of amplification and further suggest the clinical importance of subjective measures in measuring aided benefit of open-fit devices in the rehabilitation of person’s with moderately severe to severe SN hearing loss.