Amplification system with FM transmission on hearing impairement: influence of environmental noise

Abstract

Speech perception in noise is one of the most difficult situations faced by hearing impaired children wearing hearing aids. F.M. systems have not been largely used yet in Brazil. However they have been widely used all over the world since they can minimize the masking effects of background noise, eliminating the effect of distance between the speaker and the child. The present study analyzed the performance of nine severe and profound hearing impaired children in phoneme recognition in words in two different conditions: with and without background noises (Signal to Noise ratio= +5dB) and with and without the use of F.M. system. All children did worse in the presence of noise as expected. In all nine cases the use of FM brought speech recognition to levels similar to those obtained in silence. Implications of these results are discussed and the need for more research is addressed.