Clinical aspects of hearing aid provision

Swan, Iain Ruairidh Cameron (1985) Clinical aspects of hearing aid provision. MD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Chapter 1 The aim of this thesis was to examine clinical aspects of hearing aid provision and to consider how these might affect hearing aid services now and in the future. The work is presented in four parts. Chapter 2: The aim of this part of the study was to compare individuals referred to an audiology clinic (complainers) with hearing-impaired individuals in the population who had never sought advice (non-complainers). Chapter 3: The aim was to assess the accuracy of clinical voice tests and to review their role in present day audiology. The efficacy of masking of tragal rubbing and the Barany noise box was assessed. Chapter 4: The aim of this study was to identify factors of importance in predicting patients' preference for side of hearing aid use. Chapter 5: The aim of this study was to investigate difference in An audiovisual test, FADAST, was done initially unaided and subsequently with their hearing aid at the end of each 10 week period. A hearing questionnaire was also completed on each occasion. Both FADAST and the questionnaire showed significant differences between aided and unaided conditions. Neither was a good predictor of patients' preference for side of use. FADAST results suggested that subjects got more benefit when their better ear was aided. This conflict between patient preference and measured benefit suggested the hypothesis that preference was based on a desire to minimize disability in the most disadvantageous listening conditions - when sounds come from the side of the poorer hearing ear. In a pilot study, 7 subjects with asymmetric hearing did FAAF word lists with the signal from different locations, unaided and with a hearing aid in either ear. The results supported this hypothesis, showing that the greatest disability occurred with the better ear aided and the signal presented towards the worse ear. These results show that hearing is multi-dimensional. The results of tests of benefit should be regarded with caution. Unaided FADAST results were closely related to pure-tone thresholds in the better hearing ear. This relationship was used to convert FADAST benefit scores to the equivalent aided pure-tone speech frequency average, thus presenting benefit in terms familiar to all clinicians. This method demonstrated that there is a large residual hearing deficit when using a hearing aid, and suggested that individuals with mild hearing loss get relatively little quantitative benefit from current NHS hearing aids. Chapter 6: This is a summary of conclusions. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

• Item Type: Thesis (MD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Adviser: Mr. George Browning.
• Keywords: Audiology.
• Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
• Date of Award: 1985
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1985-71517
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 17 May 2019 09:31
• Last Modified: 24 Oct 2022 14:09
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71517
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71517