A tool for hearing aid and cochlear implant users to judge the usability of cellular telephones in field conditions

• Main Author: Deer, Maria Soledad
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2008
• Subjects: Acoustics; Audiology
• ISBN: 0549951881; 9780549951889

The auditory experience of using a hearing aid or a cochlear implant simultaneously with a cell phone is driven by a number of factors. These factors are: radiofrequency and baseband interference, speech intelligibility, sound quality, handset design, volume control and signal strength. The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to be used by hearing aid and cochlear implant users in retail stores as they try cell phones before buying them. This tool is meant to be an efficient, practical and systematic consumer selection tool that will capture and document information on all the domains that play a role in the auditory experience of using a cell phone with a hearing aid or cochlear implant. The development of this consumer tool involved three steps as follows: preparation, verification and measurement of success according to a predefined criterion. First, the consumer tool, consisting of a comparison chart and speech material, was prepared. Second, the consumer tool was evaluated by groups of subjects in a two-step verification process. Phase I was conducted in a controlled setting and it was followed by Phase II which took place in real world (field) conditions. In order to perform a systematic evaluation of the consumer tool two questionnaires were developed: one questionnaire for each phase. Both questionnaires involved five quantitative variables scored with the use of ratings scales. These ratings were averaged yielding an Overall Consumer Performance Score. A qualitative performance category corresponding to the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) was allocated to each final score within a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (where 5 = excellent and 1 = bad). Finally, the consumer tool development was determined to be successful if at least 80% of the participants in verification Phase II rated the comparison chart as excellent or good according to the qualitative MOS score. The results for verification Phase II (field conditions) indicated that the Overall Consumer Performance score for 92% of the subjects (11/12) was 3.7 and above corresponding to Good and Excellent MOS qualitative categories. It was concluded that this is a practical and efficient tool for hearing aid/cochlear implant users as they approach a cell phone selection process.