Fitting recommendations and clinical benefit associated with use of the NAL-NL2 hearing-aid prescription in Nucleus cochlear implant recipients.

Fitting recommendations and clinical benefit associated with use of the NAL-NL2 hearing-aid prescription in Nucleus cochlear implant recipients.

Int J Audiol. 2016 Feb 6;:1-6

Authors: English R, Plant K, Maciejczyk M, Cowan R

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: For a group of cochlear implant recipients, who use hearing aids in the contralateral ear, the benefit of NAL-NL2 relative to a recipients' own prescription was assessed. Whether there was a preferred frequency response and/or gain deviation from NAL-NL2 was then investigated.
DESIGN: Speech recognition and self-reported ratings of benefit were examined for the recipients' own prescription compared to the NAL-NL2 prescription, in the bimodal and hearing-aid alone conditions. Paired-comparison of hearing-aid frequency response was conducted with default NAL-NL2 and two variants, a low frequency boost or cut. Using a loudness balancing procedure, the hearing-aid gain required to achieve equal loudness between the devices was measured.
STUDY SAMPLE: Sixteen adults with post-lingual hearing loss.
RESULTS: A 22% increase in group median word score in quiet with use of NAL-NL2 in the hearing-aid alone condition. In the bimodal condition there was no improvement with NAL-NL2. Default NAL-NL2 frequency response was preferred by 67% of participants. For 56% of participants, the preferred gain to achieve loudness balance across bimodal devices was within 5-dB of prescribed values.
CONCLUSIONS: The NAL-NL2 prescription provides a high level of clinical performance, and an acceptable frequency response and gain for most participants.

PMID: 26853233 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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