Clinical Management of the Hearing Aid Patient

Abstract

There is no general consensus of opinion relating to appropriate hearingaid evaluation procedures and patient management practices among those who are making decisions about hearing-aid devices for the hearing-impaired individual. The plethora of evaluation methods for determining the most appropriate instrumentation gives moot testimony to the range of opinion and practices. Although the literature devoted to hearing aid evaluation procedures is rather considerable, it pales in comparison to the diversity of approaches employed by dispenser and audiologist alike. It is not the intent of this paper to delineate the exact techniques that should be employed in the evaluation process. However, personal conviction dictates that the following concepts should be incorporated into the development of a sound procedure (no pun intended) for determining appropriate amplification. 1. All measurements of patient re-sponse to acoustical stimuli should be made in a calibrated sound field. 2. Tolerance measurement should be undertaken to determine maximum power output (MPO) requirements. 3. Unaided and aided threshold measurements at frequencies of 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz (Hz) should be obtained. 4. Ability to detect differences between frequencies (1/3 octaves) within the 250 to 4000 Hz range should be assessed.