PERCEIVED SOUND QUALITY OF 3 BONE-ANCHORED HEARING-AID MODELS

Eighteen patients judged the sound quality of the new Classic300 and t he existing HC100 or HC200 on 4 five-stage sound quality scales. Two o f the scales relate to the perceptual dimensions softness and clarity one relates to interference or noise and one relates to the overall im pression. The evaluations were made, based on a questionnaire, in the patients' own homes and comprised the listening situations: TV news, m usic, conversation with two to three people in a noisy environment and one optional choice. The patients also stated which hearing aid was b est in each situation and made a confidence rating for their selection . The patients were accustomed to wearing the HC100 or HC200. In these comparisons of the different bone-anchored hearing aid models, the Cl assic 300 received the best ratings overall. Seventeen patients change d their previously fitted hearing aid to a Classic 300 and satisfactor y sound quality was undoubtedly one of the principal reasons. When it came to the confidence rating for their selections, some two-thirds of the patients stated that it was without hesitation or with little hes itation. Our overall conclusion is that the sound quality of bone-anch ored hearing aids is satisfactory when it comes to clarity and overall impression. However, it may be expected that these patients with cond uctive losses get a better sound quality than other patients with sens orineural losses if the same type of aid is used.