ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the adjustment behaviour of hearing aid (HA) users participating in a semi-supervised self-adjustment fine-tuning procedure for HAs. The aim was to link behaviour with the reproducibility and duration of the adjustments. DESIGN: Participants used a two-dimensional user interface to identify their HA gain preferences while listening to realistic sound scenes presented in a laboratory environment. The interface allowed participants to adjust amplitude (vertical axis) and spectral slope (horizontal axis) simultaneously. Participants were clustered according to their interaction with the user interface, and their search directions were analysed. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty older experienced HA users were invited to participate in this study. RESULTS: We identified four different archetypes of adjustment behaviour (curious, cautious, semi-browsing, and full-on browsing) by analysing the trace points of all measurements for each participant. Furthermore, participants used predominantly horizontal or vertical paths when searching for their preference. Neither the archetype, nor the search directions, nor the participants' technology commitment was predictive of the reproducibility or the adjustment duration. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that enforcement of a specific adjustment behaviour or search direction is not necessary to obtain fast, reliable self-adjustments. Furthermore, no strict requirements with respect to technology commitment are necessary.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of different adjustment criteria and sound scenes on self-adjusted hearing-aid gain settings. Self-adjusted settings were evaluated for speech recognition in noise, perceived listening effort, and preference. DESIGN: This study evaluated a semi-supervised self-adjustment fine-tuning procedure that presents realistic everyday sound scenes in a laboratory environment, using a two-dimensional user interface, and enabling simultaneous changes in amplitude and spectral slope. While exploring the two-dimensional space of parameter settings, the hearing-aid users were instructed to optimise either listening comfort or speech understanding. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty experienced hearing aid users (median age 69.5 years) were invited to participate in this study. RESULTS: Adjustment criterion and sound scenes had a significant effect on preferred gain settings. No differences in signal-to-noise ratios required for 50% speech intelligibility or in the perceived listening effort were observed between the adjusted settings of the two adjustment criteria. There was a preference for the self-adjusted settings over the prescriptive first fit. CONCLUSIONS: Listeners could reliably select their preferred gains to the two adjustment criteria and for different speech stimuli.
