Evaluation of a system for enhancing mobile telephone communication for people with hearing loss.
Int J Audiol
; 58(7): 417-426, 2019 07.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30957575
ABSTRACT
Objective:
To evaluate a system - "the service" - designed to improve mobile telephone communication for people with hearing loss.Design:
Each participant registered online and took an online hearing test using their own mobile telephone held in the position of their choice. The test assessed the combined effects of the telephone, the hearing loss of the participant and the hearing aid of the participant (if worn). The results were stored as a "hearing profile" and used to set up frequency-dependent amplification and multichannel amplitude compression. The signal processing was performed in the telephone network and applied to all calls of the participant. Participants completed four questionnaires about their listening experiences using the telephone, one before using the service, two while using the service and one after using the service. Also, the ability to understand speech was measured using challenging sentences. Study sample Fifty-three participants with varying degrees of hearing loss.Results:
The great majority of participants indicated that call clarity was improved and that listening difficulty was reduced when using the service. Speech intelligibility scores were significantly improved when using the service.Conclusions:
The service appears to be effective in improving phone communication for people with hearing loss.Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Correction of Hearing Impairment
/
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
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Cell Phone
/
Hearing Loss
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Audiol
Journal subject:
AUDIOLOGIA
Year:
2019
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United kingdom