Estudo da variabilidade das medidas de ganho funcional com diferentes posicionamentos entre o usuário de amplificação e a caixa acústica

Abstract

Introduction: The use of hearing aids can minimize the sensory deprivation that occurs in patients with hearing loss. Currently, there are several techniques available to select, adapt, check and validate this hearing device. The procedures most frequently used to evaluate the benefits of hearing AIDS are the functional gain, the insertion gain and the self-report outcome measure. Objetivo: verificar as diferenças de acordo com o posicionamento das caixas acústicas na pesquisa do ganho funcional e avaliar a satisfação do usuário de AAS. Objective: to verify the differences according to the placement of speakers in the research of functional gain. Method: Twenty patients with mild or moderate degree of sensor neural hearing loss using bilateral AAS for a period ranging from 10 to 53 months were evaluated. The procedures included the application of the IOI-HA (International Outcome Inventory for Hearing-Aids) questionnaire, the investigation of functional gain in the frequencies of 0.5 to 4 kHz at three different positions between the patient and the speaker (zero degrees azimuth, 45 º right and 45º left) and insertion gain with input signal 50 dBSPL. Results: The measurements of functional gain in three different positions for the frequency range of 0.5 to 4 kHz showed no statistically significant differences. A comparison of functional gain in zero degree azimuth and insertion gain indicated statistically significant differences only at frequencies of 3 to 4 kHz. Most of the results were below the target established by the NAL-NL1 gain rule. However, 60% of them presented IOI-HA scores equal or above 25 points. Conclusion: concerning to functional gain, no significant differences among the three positions were detected. Although the insertion gain presented results below expectations, data from the IOI-HA suggests that amplification benefits the patients