Clinical Assessment of Electromagnetic Compatibility of Hearing Aids and Digital Wireless Phones

Abstract

Research studies have shown that digital wireless phones interact with some hearing aids, creating a buzzing noise that may reduce speech intelligibility. Interference signals for three phone technologies were generated at five sound pressure levels (35 dB, 45 dB, 55 dB, 65 dB, and 75 dB) and mixed with speech at 65 dB SPL to test the speech intelligibility of 24 hearing-impaired people. A “No Noise” condition was also tested. Scores for the TDMA-217 Hz phone signal at low speech-to-noise ratios (<10 dB) were significantly lower than those for CDMA and TDMA-50 Hz at the same level. The CDMA and TDMA-50 Hz phone signals had a similar effect on speech intelligibility. Speech intelligibility scores at speech-to-noise ratios of 20 dB and 30 dB were similar to those for the “No Noise” condition. The articulation index represented the best index for predicting the impact of wireless phone interference on speech intelligibility.