Conclusion

1. Experimental Design • Each child acted as their own control. 4 conditions were used in a balanced order. • ATT in quiet • ATT in noise • ATT in quiet with FM radio aid • ATT in noise with FM radio aid • ATT in quiet was repeated at the end of testing to obtain test/retest reliability The Benefit of using an FM Radio Aid System with Cochlear Implant users Wood EJ, Flynn SL and Eyles JA University of Southampton UK isvr Aim To demonstrate improved speech discrimination in noise with the use of FM radio aids in cochlear implant users • Results • The mean score at which children identified 71% toys correctly was:- • in quiet without FM aid = 55.4dB sd 6.2dB • in quiet with FM aid = 47.9dB sd 7.3 dB • in noise without FM aid = 65.6dB sd 2.3dB • in noise with FM aid = 51.0dB sd 8.9dB • T-test Results: • in quiet with and without FM aid t=-4.1 p<0.002 • in noise with and without FM aid t=5.95 p<0.001 • in quiet and noise without FM aid t=6.59 p<0.001 • in quiet and noise with FM aid t=-1.01 NS • Correlations • test-retest reliability r=0.70 p<0.025 • age of subject+ATT in quiet r=0.31 NS Method The McCormick Automated Toy Test (ATT) was used to evaluate speech discrimination in noise. The Toy Test uses an adaptive technique to obtain a result at which the subject scores 71% correct. The maximum level that speech can be delivered is 70 dB(A). A fixed noise level (pink noise) of 55dB(A) was used. Subjects • 12 children aged between 5-15 years • 6 male, 6 female • 7 Nucleus CI22 users; 5 Nucleus CI24 users • 9 children used Connevans CRM220 FM radio aids • 3 children used Phonic Ear 475 FM radio aids • 9 children attended HI Units ; 3 attended mainstream school • All children were at least one year post implant before the fitting of the FM aid • All children had used their FM aid for at least 6 months • Discussion • 10 of the 12 children were able to discriminate speech better in quiet with the FM system • all children were able to discriminate speech better in noise with the FM system • the ability to discriminate speech at lower levels will make listening more comfortable for the child • the child can listen at a comfortable level independent of where the teacher is standing • the child is less susceptible to noise in the classroom if using the FM system • like implants without FM systems, there is considerable individual variation in the amount of benefit an FM aid gives • further work is planned to look at operating ranges of FM aids with cochlear implants to consider signal level and clarity • further investigation into why some children make more use of an FM aid would be useful Benefit of using FM aid in 55dB(A) noise Conclusion The benefits of FM radio aids used with cochlear implants are comparable to FM aids used with hearing aids Reference McCormick B (1977) The Toy Discrimination Test: An aid for screening the hearing of children above the mental age of 2 years. Public Health London 91, 67-69 30 20 dB advantage 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 -10 Subject