This study investigated how hearing loss and hearing aid use affect environmental sound ratings in laboratory and real-world contexts using the soundscape framework. Forty-four participants (17 normal hearing, 14 with unaided hearing loss, and 13 hearing aid users) rated environmental sounds from four categories (nature, animal, human, machine) on pleasantness and eventfulness dimensions in the laboratory and in...
Findings suggest hearing aid fitting and counselling should consider patients' broader environmental sound experience, not just speech intelligibility — though the small sample size limits how broadly these results can be applied.
Moving beyond speech-centric hearing aid evaluation toward soundscape and environmental sound quality could expand outcome measures and better capture patient quality of life in real-world settings.
- 0144 participants rated environmental sounds in both laboratory and real-world settings.
- 02Hearing loss and hearing aid use both influenced how environmental sounds were perceived and rated.
- 03Study uses a soundscape framework — an emerging approach measuring overall sound environment quality.
- 04Dual lab and real-world methodology improves ecological validity compared to lab-only designs.
- 05Implications for broadening hearing aid outcome measures beyond speech intelligibility.
Hearing loss affects how individuals rate environmental sounds in both lab and real-world settings.
studysupportedHearing aid use alters environmental sound ratings compared to unaided listening in people with hearing loss.
studysupported- PMID
- 42257580
- DOI
- 10.1121/10.0044116.
- Journal
- Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Sample size
- 44
- Population
- Adults with hearing loss and hearing aid users; 44 participants
- Intervention
- Hearing aid use during environmental sound exposure
- Comparator
- Unaided listening; normal-hearing controls
Primary outcomes
Environmental sound ratings in laboratory settings; Environmental sound ratings in real-world settings