On engineering and user's satisfaction of a pocket digital hearing aid: a preliminary report

This paper discusses preliminary results on REAT institute's attempt in developing an alternative digital hearing aid targeted for rural usage. Following our previous publication on its design and acoustical performance, this paper reports on its 3-month trial at Chiang Mai University Hospital, both on engineering and user's satisfaction aspects. The patient outcome measurement protocol used is adopted from APHAB, the first time it is implemented in Thai language. Initial results indicate that using the device improves user's satisfaction in terms of ease of communication and aversiveness of sounds. In terms of engineering, the devices under test also proved to be robust, passing all the designated tests.