Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to determine sentence perception ability in noise and the effectiveness of an FM system for unilateral hearing loss (UHL). Three school-aged children with UHL and six childrens with normal hearing (NH) participated in the study. All the subjects underwent the Japanese Hearing in Noise Test (HINT-J) and were asked about their hearing in everyday life. As a result, the HINT-J scores for the children with UHL were lower than those for the (childrens with NH) under any noise condition. In particular, 2 of the 3 children could not perceive sentences at a lower than 0dB SN ratio in the presence of noise relative to the normal hearing side. Furthermore, one subject underwent a trial hearing using an FM system, and the effectiveness of the FM system for UHL was investigated using the HINT-J, a self-assessment inventory of hearing. When the subject used the FM system, the subject's HINT-J scores increased under noise conditions on the hearing impaired and normal hearing sides. The scores of the self-assessment inventory also improved. Long-term support is important to improve psychosocial aspects, and we considered the welfare subsidy and the tasks required for the use of this system.
