Hearing-aid fitting in profoundly hearing-impaired children. Comparison of prescription rules.

Generally, the performance of a hearing-impaired child with his or her hearing aids is the major criterion in selection programmes for cochlear implantation. Thereto, it has to be considered whether the hearing-aid fitting is optimal. For this purpose, methods which prescribe hearing-aid gain are valuable, especially in young preverbal children. Three of these methods were evaluated by comparing the calculated and measured gain as a function of frequency in a selected group of profoundly hearing-impaired children (n = 16), all of whom were successful users of hearing aids. Fair agreement was found for the modified NAL rule applicable in profoundly hearing-impaired subjects and the DSL method (desired sensation level method).