Clinical Evaluation of Australian Hearing's Guidelines for Fitting Multiple Memory Hearing Aids

In 1998, guidelines for fitting multi-memory hearing aids were introduced in Australian Hearing (a government agency). The guidelines list criteria for determining multimemory candidacy and present recommended response variations around a baseline response to suit different listening environments. This study aimed at validating the clinical application of the guidelines. Forty-four subjects from three Australian Hearing centres evaluated a digital, two-memory, two-channel compression device with remote control in their everyday environments for four months. Data suggested that the original criteria for candidacy were not satisfactory. On average, candidates had a wider dynamic range across the high frequencies, were more often in the situation the alternative program was designed for, and were fitted with a greater low-frequency gain difference between programs. A revised candidacy guideline based on this finding is presented. The recommended response variations were difficult to achieve and data did not suggest any particular changes to the recommended response variations.