Week 7, Spring 2008

The client was an older woman who visited the clinic to be fit with a pair of Unitron Moda Element 8 hearing aids. Prior to the HAO, a HAE was performed and audiometric results revealed a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss that sloped slightly beyond 1000 Hz. Unitron Moda Element 8 hearing aids were recommended at that time.

At the current visit, amplification was programmed according to heraudiogram. The manufacturer’s recommendations for fitting were modified by slightly according to the client’s listening preferences. The prescribed amount of overall gain was reduced, with additional decreases in the low and mid frequencies. Instructions were given about operation, insertion, maintenance, and troubleshooting her hearing aids. The client practiced inserting and removing the domes from her ear canals. Practice inserting and removing batteries was provided. Warranty information also was discussed.

The client was encouraged to wear her hearing aids in quiet situations at first and gradually wear them more in all conditions, including reverberant and relatively noisy environments. She was asked to make a follow-up appointment in order to discuss the performance of her hearing aid. She also was urged to call the clinic if she experienced any significant difficulties prior to her next appointment.

Since acclimatization was discussed, I chose the article Changes in Hearing-Aid Benefit Following 1 or 2 Years of Hearing-Aid Use by Older Adults written by Larry E. Humes, Dana L. Wilson, Nancy N. Barlow, and Carolyn Garner.

http://web.ebscohost.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=34&hid=101&sid=5077a623-7531-4b3a-a840-604f8d099f9b%40sessionmgr106

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=c8h&AN=2004010111&site=ehost-live

Subjects between 60 and 89 participated in this study. They all had flat or gently sloping sensorineural hearing loss. One hundred thirty-four subjects were evaluated at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year post-fitting, and 49 of those subjects returned for a 2-year follow-up appointment.

Benefit measures included several objective tests of speech recognition, such as the Connected Speech Test (NST) and the CUNY Nonsense Syllable Test (CST), and subjective tests, such as the Hearing Aid Performance Inventory (HAPI) and the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE).

Neither the objective measures nor the subjective measures changed for most hearing aid wearers over the first 2 years of use. However one exception was observed. The some of the subjective measures actually declined, which indicated less benefit, during the first 6 to 12 months of hearing-aid use.

In other words, this study did not demonstrate proof of acclimatization. What do you think about acclimatization???