Verifying loudness perception after hearing aid fitting.

During the verification phase of a hearing aid fitting, clinicians often want to assess the extent to which loudness perceptions for amplified sounds are similar to those typical of normal hearers. This type of verification calls for a criterion for "normal" loudness perception of sounds presented in a sound field. This research sought to answer several questions about the parameters of a valid "normal" criterion for a verification procedure using the Contour test of loudness perception. Loudness data were obtained from 30 listeners with normal hearing. Results indicated that a loudness growth function obtained with earphone listening is not an appropriate normative reference for hearing aid fitting verification. Instead, the normative data should be based on sound field listening. Results also indicated that the same normative function could be used to assess both unilateral and bilateral fittings. Further, it is likely that the same normative function can be used for most frequency responses that are likely to be used in feasible fittings. Finally, it was found that a previously published normative function obtained using an automated test procedure was not faithfully replicated using a carefully executed fully manual test procedure. We concluded that, until a replicable normative function is established, practitioners will need to generate their own local norms to perform postfitting verification of loudness normalization.