Evaluation of wideband frequency responses and non-linear frequency compression for XXXX with mild to moderate high-frequency hearing loss.

@entity1 @entity393
Abstract Objective: To evaluate wideband amplification and non-linear frequency compression (NLFC) as a means to improve speech recognition for @entity1 with mild/moderate @entity393 . DESIGN: Randomized within-subject design with repeated measures across test conditions. STUDY SAMPLE: Eleven @entity1 with mild to moderate @entity393 were evaluated with: (1) Phonak BTE without NLFC, (2) Phonak BTE with NLFC, and (3) Oticon BTE with wideband response extending to 8000 Hz. RESULTS: Use of NLFC provided better detection and recognition of high-frequency stimuli (e.g. /sh/ and /s/). No difference in performance between conditions was observed for speech recognition when measured with the University of Western Ontario (UWO) plurals test and the UWO distinctive features difference test. Finally, there were no differences between conditions on the BKB-SIN test. CONCLUSIONS: @entity1 with mild to moderate @entity393 have good access to high-frequency phonemes presented at fixed levels (e.g. 50 to 60 dBA) with both wideband and NLFC technology. Similarly, sentence recognition in noise was similar with wideband and NLFC. Adaptive test procedures that probe performance at lower input levels showed small but significant improvements in the detection and recognition of the phonemes /s/ and /sh/ with NLFC condition when compared to the NLFC Off and wideband conditions.
