Comparison of occlusion effect in normal hearing individuals and those with slight and mild sensory neural hearing loss via real ear measurement

Hearing aid users complain about a phenomenon called "occlusion effect". The aim of this study was to compare the occlusion effect in normal hearing individuals and those with slight and mild sensory neural hearing loss via Real Ear Measurement. Sixty volunteers (30 male, 30 female) aged 18-55 years were enrolled in this study. Subjects were instructed to vocalize /e/ and /i/ for 5 seconds. Sound pressure level was measured by a probe- microphone and recorded in the ear canal. Occlusion effect and the frequency in which maximum occlusion effect occurs were obtained for each individuals for further analysis. The peak of occlusion effect for /e/ was 10.25 dB and 9.77 dB respectively in 751.9 Hz and 542.98 Hz frequencies in female and male individuals. The maximum occlusion effect occurred with 19.03 dB and 19.10 dB for /i/ and in 518.88 Hz and 440.28 Hz in female and male individuals, in respect. In addition, no significant difference was seen among hearing levels and between genders. The peak of occlusion effect varies significantly among hearing aid users so that the hearing aid must be tuned. Probe-microphone measures will assist in determination where frequency- specific adjustments are needed.