Effects of hearing aid rehabilitation on listening effort a systematic literature review

• Hearing impairment negatively affects speech perception and may increase listening effort, especially under adverse conditions such as in the presence of background noise. Previous research showed that hearing-aid rehabilitation can improve speech perception performance. However, it is not clear whether it influences listening effort during speech perception. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of available evidence of the effect of hearing-aid rehabilitation on listening effort. English language articles were identified through systematic searches in PubMed, EMBASE, Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and through reference checking from inception to August 2014. The primary search produced 12210 unique hits using the key-words: hearing aids OR hearing impairment AND listening effort OR perceptual effort OR ease of listening. Three researchers independently determined eligibility of the articles. In total, about 45 articles fulfilled the search and selection criteria of: experimental work on hearing aid technologies AND listening effort OR fatigue during speech perception.Most of the about 45 eligible studies (about 70%) measured perceived effort using subjective scales or questionnaires. Behavioral measures of listening effort mainly included dual-task paradigms. Finally, physiological measures such as provided by pupillometry, electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging objectively estimated listening effort. Some studies found that hearing-aid rehabilitation was associated with significant reductions of listening effort, while others failed to do so or even reported an increase of listening effort associated with hearing-aid rehabilitation.This review summarizes the available evidence on the effects of hearing aid rehabilitation on listening effort.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Oto-rhino-laryngologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Otorhinolaryngology (hsv//eng)

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