[Rehabilitation of hearing impaired elderly patients by means of hearing aids with frequency lowering technology.].

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation of hearing impaired elderly patients using hearing aids with frequency lowering technology called Frequency Composition ™. 23 hearing aid users (mean age 64 years) with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss were tested. All participants were divided into two groups according to configuration of audiogram: 11 people with averaged slope of 27,9 dB per an octave within frequency range of 1-2 kHz (the 1st group) and 12 people with slope of 24,1 dB at 2-4 kHz (the 2nd group). Average speech tests scores of the 1st group were significantly worse than for the 2nd group (p<0,05 in quiet; p<0,01 in noise). It has been seen that the 1st group had significant better improvement of speech understanding using of Frequency Composition™ than the 2nd group. It has been shown that frequency lowering can improve perception of high frequency sounds and enhance speech intelligibility especially in patients with audiogram slope within frequency range of 1-2 kHz. To effective use of frequency lowering technology a careful selection of patients and adaptation to the new algorithm of amplification are required.