Severe-profound hearing loss

Severe or profound hearing loss is often characterized by issues in sound and speech perception, as well as perception of background noise, both which must be considered in hearing-aid fitting. People with severe or profound hearing loss also often have unique needs for connectivity to assistive devices.

In many countries, including Sweden, there are currently no guidelines specifying how hearing aids should be programmed and fitted for patients with severe or profound hearing losses. Even though this patient group is rather small compared to people with moderate hearing loss, their needs are nonetheless equally important.

ORCA Europe has addressed these considerations in a series of studies. For example, we demonstrated that perception of sound quality differs between the group with severe-profound hearing loss and that with mild-moderate hearing loss. The results of these studies enable us to optimize the hearing-aid sound for this specific group.