HEARING-AID FITTING IN PROFOUNDLY HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILDREN - COMPARISON OF PRESCRIPTION RULES

Generally, the performance of a hearing-impaired child with his or her hearing aids is the major criterion in selection programmes for cochl ear implantation. Thereto, it has to be considered whether the hearing -aid fitting is optimal. For this purpose, methods which prescribe hea ring-aid gain are valuable, especially in young preverbal children. Th ree of these methods were evaluated by comparing the calculated and me asured gain as a function of frequency in a selected group of profound ly hearing-impaired children (n = 16), all of whom were successful use rs of hearing aids. Fair agreement was found for the modified NAL rule applicable in profoundly hearing-impaired subjects and the DSL method (desired sensation level method).