Bluetooth Coupling in Hearing Aids: Effect on Audiovisual Speech Recognition and Quality Rating of Compressed Speech in Older Individuals with Sloping Hearing Loss.

Introduction  Older individuals often report that they find it difficulty in enjoying watching television since they find it hard to follow the rapid intensity variations, and voice changes from scene to scene. Objective  The present study investigated the effect of coupling the hearing aid with the television via Bluetooth on audiovisual speech recognition and quality rating of compressed speech in older individuals with hearing loss. Method  Twenty participants in the age range of 60 to 75 years who had moderate to moderately severe sloping sensorineural hearing loss were bilaterally fitted with digital receiver in the canal hearing aids. The hearing aid was coupled with a television via Bluetooth using a streamer. The video recorded stimuli were presented at 65 dB SPL at normal rate, 35% compression and 45% compression conditions. Speech recognition scores and quality ratings were obtained for each condition with and without the Bluetooth streamer connected to the hearing aids. Results  Speech recognition scores were significantly better with Bluetooth coupling compared with conventional hearing aid use at 40% compressed speech rate. The quality was also rated higher in almost all parameters across speech rates when Bluetooth was used. Conclusions  The improved clarity and nullification of room reverberation offered by Bluetooth coupling can potentially compensate for the age-related temporal processing deficit contributing to ease of listening.