Hearing loss, speech, and hearing aids.

Modern hearing aids permit adjustment of a number of electroacoustic parameters, among them frequency response, saturation sound pressure level, and various aspects of compression. Relatively little is known, however, about how the electroacoustic characteristics of hearing aids affect the information-bearing properties of speech. Even less is known about how hearing aids might alleviate or exacerbate the effects of impaired hearing. This article reviews current knowledge in three areas: (a) characteristics of mild/moderate hearing loss, (b) information-bearing aspects of speech, and (c) the relation between electroacoustic characteristics of hearing aids and the speech signal. Concluding suggestions are made regarding the implications of the current data for selecting hearing-aid characteristics.