Purpose
To investigate speech recognition functioning in noise for hearing-impaired adults who use a hearing aid (HA) with a directional microphone, compared to those patients with no HA and HA with an omnidirectional microphone.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 45 subjects bilaterally fitted with digital hearing aids was performed. The subjects were evaluated by the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT-Brazil) under three conditions: without HA, with HA and omnidirectional microphone activated, and with HA and directional microphone activated.
Results
Through analysis of descriptive measures and statistical tests, we were able to verify that the directional microphone was significantly better.
Conclusion
Based on the results, we can conclude that the directional microphone contributes most significantly to speech recognition in noise.
Noise; Hearing aids; Auditory perception; Hearing loss; Technology