Hearing aid fitting of preschool and primary school children. An evaluation using the insertion gain measurement.

This report presents the results of a group comparison between insertion gain measurements and the calculated Articulation Index (AI) in preschool children (n = 35), primary school children (n = 60) and adults (n = 40). Only patients with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, successfully fitted binaurally with hearing aids, were included. Patients with an asymmetrical hearing loss or an abrupt high frequency loss were excluded. No statistically significant differences were found between the group results of the preschool children and the primary school children. The results showed that the overall level of insertion gain was 7 dB higher in the total children group (primary school and preschool children) than in the adult group and the AI was approximately 0.1 higher in the children group. Additionally, the measured insertion gain was compared to the desired gain resulting from prescriptive rules: it is concluded that for children the so-called half gain rule is appropriate, while for the adults the measured insertion gain lies between the values prescribed by the half gain rule and the one-third gain rule.