Does hearing aid experience alter un-aided auditory perception?

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the ability of hearing aid (HA) experience to improve central auditory skills by making use of auditory plasticity. The aim would be achieved through studying the unaided auditory perception of a time compressed sentence test (TCST), patterning tests (pitch pattern test (PPT), duration pattern test (DPT)), and an auditory fusion test (AFT) in children with and without previous hearing aid usage. Study design: This was a cross-sectional study that included a study group of 19 children with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) having HA experience. Their ages ranged from six to 12 years and were compared to a control group of 27 well-matched children without previous hearing aid experience. Results: The children with SNHL having HA experience showed better scores than their controls in the psycho-physical tests, but this was statistically significant only on the PPT and the AFT at 500 Hz; at 4000Hz. The results were not significant for the DPT or TCST. PPT in both ears improved significantly with increased age of the children having HA experience; TCST at 60% in both ears and AFT at 4 kHz improved significantly with increased duration of HA use. AFT at 4 kHz improved significantly by early onset of HA use. Conclusion: HA experience results in improvement of un-aided auditory perception on some psycho-physical tests for children with mild to moderate SNHL, which emphasizes the need for early and regular use of amplification.