Protocol for evaluation of the effect of hearing aid electroacoustic parameters on perception of amplified speech.

A protocol for the evaluation of the effects of changes in hearing aid electroacoustic parameters was developed and evaluated. The protocol called for the creation of a matrix with as many dimensions as there are parameters to be evaluated. The protocol also called for each dimension to have as many divisions as there are possible variations of a parameter. The cell entries in the matrix were the listener speech discrimination scores in noise. It was found that one cell within the matrix always uniquely contained the highest listener speech discrimination score. It was concluded that use of such a protocol would allow the establishment of the precise electroacoustic settings of a master hearing aid which would result in best speech understanding for the listener.