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Results for “Speech Reception Threshold Test”

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PubMed2003

Development of a speech-in-multitalker-babble paradigm to assess word-recognition performance.

A simple word-recognition task in multitalker babble for clinic use was developed in the course of four experiments involving listeners with normal hearing and listeners with hearing loss. In Experiments 1 and 2, psychometric functions for the individual NU No. 6 words from Lists 2, 3, and 4 were obtained with each word in a unique segment of multitalker babble. The test paradigm that emerged involved ten words at each of seven signal-to-babble ratios (S/B) from 0 to 24 dB. Experiment 3 examined the effect that babble presentation level (70, 80, and 90 dB SPL) had on recognition performance in babble, whereas Experiment 4 studied the effect that monaural and binaural listening had on recognition performance. For listeners with normal hearing, the 90th percentile was 6 dB S/B. In comparison to the listeners with normal hearing, the 50% correct points on the functions for listeners with hearing loss were at 5 to 15 dB higher signal-to-babble ratios.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1992

Case report: top hearing performances of a postlingually deaf cochlear implant user.

On the occasion of the Cochlear Implant Symposium in Geneva in October 1991, top hearing results attained by a young postlingually deaf woman with cochlear implant systems were presented in video recordings. These data are centered on demanding hearing performances in test situations and in a telephone conversation. For various reasons, two reimplantations were necessary in this deaf patient. Initially, she was provided with a single-channel extra-cochlear electrode of the Vienna type, which she found to improve her lipreading substantially, and she attained an unexpectedly good understanding of speech on a purely auditory basis. Today, this postlingually deaf women uses a multichannel intracochlear electrode of the Nucleus type. The excellent results with the first extracochlear system are clearly surpassed with the intracochlear system. Not least because of her above-average speech competence, the cochlear implant user attains a high degree of open speech understanding. Her verbal hearing efficiency is comparable to that of a person with mild to moderately severe hearing loss.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of growth of masking functions and speech discrimination abilities in younger and older adults.

This study examined the possibility that age-related differences in speech discrimination abilities may reflect individual differences in the amount of masking and in the rate of growth of on- and off-frequency masking. Young (mean age = 26 years) and older (mean age = 60 years) adult listeners were selected, all of whom had hearing thresholds equal to or better than 30 dB HL at audiometric frequencies < or = 2000 Hz and equal or better than 40 dB HL at audiometric frequencies from 3000 to 6000 Hz. Listeners were tested on a consonant identification task in which nonsense words were presented in quiet, high-pass-filtered, low-pass-filtered and in wide-band noise. Despite their good hearing thresholds, the older listeners made significantly more errors in all four test conditions. Masked thresholds and growth of masking functions were obtained for all listeners at signal frequencies of 750, 1000, and 1500 Hz, in the presence of a one-third-octave band of noise centred at 1000 Hz, with four noise levels from 50 to 80 dB SPL. The older listeners had higher masked thresholds overall, when compared to younger listeners, even though their audiometric thresholds at these frequencies were within normal limits. However, the slope of the growth of masking functions at and above the masker frequency did not differ with age. These results show that older listeners show reduced speech discrimination abilities both in difficult listening conditions and in quiet, even when their pure-tone thresholds are within normal limits. Moreover, these effects cannot be attributed to differences in masked thresholds or in the rate of growth of masking.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of speech perception skills in young and old listeners.

A companion paper (Yanz. 1984, Ear Hear. 5, 64-71) has described an approach to the quantification of speech perception using measures derived from the theory of signal detection (TSD). The present experiment uses this approach to compare speech perception in young and old listeners in terms of the traditional word recognition score (%C), the ability to assess the accuracy of one's own identifications [P(A)], and the decision criterion used in that assessment (B). Monosyllables were presented in a background of broadband noise at two signal-to-noise ratios (S/N), 0 dB and 5 dB. Subjects recorded their identification of each test item and then rated their confidence in that identification on a six-point scale. Results indicated that in this particular task, neither %C nor B differed between the two age groups, but both quantities varied with S/N. P(A) was the same for the two groups at S/N = 0 dB but differed at S/N = 5 dB. The young group showed significant improvement in P(A) from the 0-dB to the 5-dB S/N condition, while old subjects showed no change. These results suggest that young subjects are more able than older subjects to adapt to and take advantage of an improvement in the acoustic environment.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Aging and contralateral suppression effects on transient evoked otoacoustic emissions.

Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were recorded in 30 normal-hearing subjects to nonlinear clicks while continuous contralateral broadband noise (CBBN) was presented at 40, 50, 60, and 70 dB HL. Thirty subjects between 20 and 79 years were divided system-atically into six-decade age groups, five subjects per group. All subjects in each group had hearing thresholds of 20 dB HL or better for the test frequencies from 0.25 to 8.0 kHz and normal acoustic immittance findings. The results provide evidence that contralateral suppression at varying levels of CBBN is interactive with age. Except for subjects in the age ranges between 60 and 69 and 70 and 79 years of age, an increase in CBBN from 40 to 70 dB in 10-dB steps resulted in an average increase in suppression from about 0.5 to 3.5 dB SPL. In addition, the contralateral suppression at 60 and 70 dB HL was significantly greater for subjects between 20 and 59 years of age than for subjects between 60 and 79 years of age.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Use of 35 words for evaluation of hearing loss in signal-to-babble ratio: A clinic protocol.

Data from earlier studies that presented 70 words at 24 to 0 dB signal-to-babble (S/B) ratios indicated that most young listeners with normal hearing required 0 to 6 dB S/B ratios to attain 50% correct word recognition. Older listeners with hearing loss often required a >12 dB S/B ratio to attain 50% correct word recognition. In our study, we converted the Words in Noise test from one 70-word list into two 35-word lists for quicker administration by clinicians. Using baseline data from previous studies, we used two strategies to randomize the 35-word lists: based on recognition performance at each S/B ratio and based on recognition performance only. With the first randomization strategy, the 50% correct word-recognition points on the two lists differed by 0.5 dB for 72 listeners with hearing loss. With the second randomization strategy, 48 listeners with hearing loss performed identically on the two lists.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Deriving criteria for hearing impairment in the elderly: a functional approach.

We describe a method for deriving criteria for hearing impairment in the elderly based on self-reported handicap. Using the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - Screening (HHIE-S) version as functional measures of handicap, the analysis proceeded in five steps: 1. Audiometric thresholds at various frequencies were inter-correlated. This was done both within and between ears. 2. Better and poorer ear thresholds were determined for each frequency, and these were correlated with the HHIE-S and SIP scores. 3. Using the HHIE-S and SIP scores as dependent variables, stepwise multiple linear regressions were used to select the frequencies that explained the most variance in the functional scales. 4. Using the HHIE-S and SIP as standards, receiver operating curves were constructed for each frequency to select the threshold level that provided the best test accuracy. 5. The newly-derived criteria were then compared against four other "traditional" criteria of hearing impairment. In general, the newly-derived criteria combined a relatively low frequency with a relatively high frequency, with the low frequency being functionally more important. Depending on the functional scale used, the threshold level was in the 25 to 35-dB range for the lower frequencies and 40 to 45-dB for the higher frequencies. These features provide a suitable compromise to the current debate over which threshold levels comprise the best discrimination of aged persons who are hearing-impaired. Future research should focus on developing consensus standards for functional hearing impairment and handicap in the elderly.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1986

A comparison of two-channel and single-channel compression hearing aids.

Eight subjects with bilateral sensorineural hearing losses took part in a trial comparing listening unaided with listening binaurally through two types of hearing aid, aid A and aid B. Both aids incorporated slow-acting automatic gain control (AGC) operating on the whole speech signal. However, aid A also incorporated two-channel syllabic compression. The two aids were chosen to be as similar as possible in other respects, and both were worn behind the ear. Subjects were tested in a counter-balanced order, and had at least 2 weeks of everyday experience with each aid before testing took place. Performance was evaluated in three ways: by measuring speech intelligibility in quiet for sentences at three peak sound levels, 55, 70 and 85 dB SPL; by measuring the level of speech required for 50% intelligibility (called the SRT) of sentences in two levels of speech-shaped noise, 60 and 75 dB SPL; and by administering questionnaires about experience with the aids in everyday life. Both aid A and aid B improved the intelligibility of speech in quiet relative to unaided listening, particularly at the lowest sound level. However, aid A gave lower (i.e., superior) SRTs in speech-shaped noise than aid B or unaided listening. The questionnaires also indicated that aid A gave better performance in noisy situations. The results strongly suggest that two-channel syllabic compression, combined with slow-acting AGC operating on the whole speech signal, can give superior results to slow-acting AGC alone, particularly in noisy situations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Spoken word recognition development in children with residual hearing using cochlear implants and hearing AIDS in opposite ears.

OBJECTIVE: With broadening candidacy criteria for cochlear implantation, a greater number of pediatric candidates have usable residual hearing in their nonimplanted ears. This population potentially stands to benefit from continued use of conventional amplification in their nonimplanted ears. The purposes of this investigation were to evaluate whether children with residual hearing in their nonimplanted ears benefit from bilateral use of cochlear implants and hearing aids and to investigate the time course of adaptation to combined use of the devices together. DESIGN: Pediatric cochlear implant recipients with severe sensorineural hearing loss in their nonimplanted ears served as participants. Ten children continued to use hearing aids in their nonimplanted ears after cochlear implantation; 12 children used their cochlear implants exclusively. Participants were tested longitudinally on spoken word recognition measures at 6-month intervals. The children who continued wearing hearing aids were tested in three sensory aid conditions: cochlear implants alone, hearing aids alone, and cochlear implants in conjunction with hearing aids. The children who did not continue hearing aid use were tested after surgery in their only aided condition, cochlear implant alone. RESULTS: The results suggest that children with severe hearing loss who continued using hearing aids in their nonimplanted ears benefited from combining the acoustic input received from a hearing aid with the input received from a cochlear implant, particularly in background noise. However, this benefit emerged with experience. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that it is appropriate to encourage pediatric cochlear implant recipients with severe hearing loss to continue wearing an appropriately fitted hearing aid in the nonimplanted ear to maximally benefit from bilateral stimulation.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1999

Clinical study of Widex Senso on first-time hearing aid users.

Using psychoacoustic tests and questionnaires, the aim of this study was to clinically test Widex Senso (WS) versus analogue hearing aids on 200 first-time wearers. Half of the participants were selected at random for fitting with the behind-the-ear model (WS C8) or the in-the-canal model (WS CX). On a group basis, WS was found to provide more benefit than a palette of 29 analogue, modern hearing aid models from 10 manufacturers. Only 3 of 100 subjects changed from WS to another hearing aid. On average, the abbreviated profile of hearing aid benefit (APHAB) (Cox & Alexander, 1995) demonstrated superior performance for WS, i.e. no conflict existed between high comfort and high speech recognition. Median aided frequency-modulated tone thresholds in the sound field were better than 25 dB HL at frequencies up to 4 kHz inclusive. A distinct mean aided improvement of speech threshold in competing speech of 2.5 dB was found in both groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The effect on speech intelligibility of varying compression time constants in a digital hearing aid.

The identification of nonsense syllables in quiet and in three types of background (babble, cafeteria and single female speaker) was measured using four hearing aid compression algorithms differing in attack and release time constants, and using linear amplification. The speech level was always 65 dB SPL. The compression algorithms, which were implemented in a Phonak Claro ITE hearing aid, were: (1) 'very fast'--the attack time was 8 ms and the release time was 32 ms, for all 20 channels; (2) 'slow-fast'--the attack and release times decreased from 500 ms for low frequencies to about lOOms for high frequencies; (3) 'fast-slow'-the attack and release times increased from about 50ms for low frequencies to 500 ms for high frequencies; and (4) 'slow + fast'-a very slow-acting gain control signal was combined with a fast-acting gain control signal, for each channel in a 10-channel system. Acoustical stimuli were presented monaurally via a circumaural headphone mounted over the hearing aid. The linear condition did not use the Claro aid; instead, the signal was digitally filtered to implement the Cambridge formula prior to delivery via the earphone. Five subjects with moderate sensorineural hearing loss were tested in a counter-balanced order across conditions. In quiet, performance was best for linear amplification and worst for the slow + fast algorithm. In the presence of background sounds, the highest scores were obtained with the linear-gain Cambridge formula implemented via headphones; a supplementary experiment suggested that this was due to the greater high-frequency gain resulting from the use of this formula. No significant differences were found between scores for the different compression algorithms. We conclude that the intelligibility of speech at a fixed level, presented in background sounds, is not markedly affected by rather substantial variations of the time constants in a multichannel compression system.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

The effects of expansion on the objective and subjective performance of hearing instrument users.

The present study investigated the effects of expansion on the objective and subjective performance of 20 hearing instrument users fitted binaurally with digital ITE products. Objective performance was evaluated in quiet using the Connected Speech Test and in noise using the Hearing in Noise Test. Subjective performance was evaluated in two ways: (a) by having each participant rate their satisfaction regarding the amount of noise reduction they perceived in each expansion condition on a daily basis and (b) by having each participant indicate which expansion condition they preferred following the completion of a two-week trial. Results indicated that expansion significantly reduced low-level speech perception performance; however, satisfaction and preference ratings significantly increased when using expansion. The effect of degree of hearing loss, expansion kneepoint, and expansion ratio on the effectiveness of expansion for a given listener was discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2000

Double blind comparison of three hearing aid circuits with new hearing aid users.

This study was a double blind comparison of three types of hearing aid circuits: Class A linear peak clipping, Class D compression limiting and K-Amp wide dynamic range compression. Subjective ratings, speech perception tests, real ear measurements and questionnaire data were obtained from a group of 17 new hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. The results indicate a similar performance for all three circuits. We saw no evidence of performance degradation due to saturation distortion, even in the presence of high levels of speech and noise. Our primary conclusions include recommending K-Amps to new hearing aid users with mild to moderate hearing loss, mostly on the basis of battery life, while cautioning about the use of compression knee-point controls and recognizing that Class A and Class D amplifiers are virtually equivalent in every performance measurement.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Further delineation of the DFNA5 phenotype: results of speech recognition tests.

Speech recognition scores were analyzed in 34 carriers of a DFNA5 mutation. Cross-sectional linear regression analysis (last visit, maximum recognition score in %Correct on age or PTA1,2,4 kHz) established onset age (score 90%) at 16 years and onset PTA1,2,4 kHz level (score 90%) at 41 dB hearing level. The deterioration rate was 0.7%/y in the plot of maximum score against age, whereas the deterioration gradient was 0.4%/dB in the plot of maximum score against PTA1,2,4 kHz. Given the previously demonstrated rapid progression of hearing impairment, speech recognition was relatively good: at age 70, the score was still >50%.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Speech pattern hearing aids for the profoundly hearing impaired: speech perception and auditory abilities.

A family of prototype speech pattern hearing aids for the profoundly hearing impaired has been compared to amplification. These aids are designed to extract acoustic speech patterns that convey essential phonetic contrasts, and to match this information to residual receptive abilities. In the first study, the presentation of voice fundamental frequency information from a wearable SiVo (sinusoidal voice) aid was compared to amplification in 11 profoundly deafened adults. Intonation reception was often better, and never worse, with fundamental frequency information. Four subjects scored more highly in audio-visual consonant identification with fundamental frequency information, five performed better with amplified speech, and two performed similarly under these two conditions. Five of the 11 subjects continued use of the SiVo aid after the tests were complete. A second study examined a laboratory prototype compound speech pattern aid, which encoded voice fundamental frequency, amplitude envelope, and the presence of voiceless excitation. In five profoundly deafened adults, performance was better in consonant identification when additional speech patterns were present than with fundamental frequency alone; the main advantage was derived from amplitude information. In both consonant identification and connected discourse tracking, performance with appropriately matched compound speech pattern signals was better than with amplified speech in three subjects, and similar to performance with amplified speech in the other two. In nine subjects, frequency discrimination, gap detection, and frequency selectivity were measured, and were compared to speech receptive abilities with both amplification and fundamental frequency presentation. The subjects who showed the greatest advantage from fundamental frequency presentation showed the greatest average hearing losses, and the least degree of frequency selectivity. Compound speech pattern aids appear to be more effective for some profoundly hearing-impaired listeners than conventional amplifying aids, and may be a valuable alternative to cochlear implants.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Effect of two approaches to auditory training on speech recognition by hearing-impaired adults.

Twenty adults with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing impairments were given three tests of speech recognition: the CUNY Nonsense Syllable Test (NST), the low predictability items of the Revised Speech Perception in Noise (RSPIN) test, and the high predictability items of the RSPIN test. They were tested on four occasions: at the beginning of the study, after one month of "no treatment," after a month of intensive auditory training, and after a further month of "no treatment." During the treatment period, 10 of the subjects spent all of the time on activities involving sentence perception and perceptual strategy while the other 10 spent half of the time on activities involving consonant recognition. A small, but statistically significant increase in speech recognition performance on the high probability material was observed in both groups subsequent to training, but the effect of training method was not significant. In addition, the gains achieved were not lost in the month following the end of training. The findings suggest that the benefits of auditory training were found in an increased use of sentence context as an aid to word recognition.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Cochlear implant outcome is not influenced by the choice of ear.

OBJECTIVES: This study tested the hypothesis that patients with residual hearing in the nonimplanted ear had the same cochlear implant benefit whether the implanted ear had profound or severe hearing loss. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review of adult cochlear implant recipients with postlingual hearing loss. Patients were categorized according to the pure-tone average of the implanted and contralateral ears as (a) bilateral profound, (b) severe-profound, and (c) bilateral severe. The results of a test battery of spoken language measures were compared among patients belonging to these hearing categories at 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery, using a t-test and multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS: The presence of residual hearing in one or both ears was associated with significantly higher postoperative speech perception scores compared with participants with bilateral profound hearing loss. Among participants with similar amounts of residual hearing in the nonimplanted ear, however, there was no difference in speech recognition scores between those with profound and those with severe hearing loss in the implanted ear. CONCLUSIONS: Among participants with asymmetric hearing loss, there is no additional benefit to implanting the better-hearing ear that can be preserved for use with a hearing aid for better speech understanding in noise and sound localization. These results suggest that the additional benefit received by patients with residual hearing is mediated by trophic effects on crossed pathways in the central nervous system and is independent of the preoperative functional status of the implanted ear.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Word recognition in continuous noise, interrupted noise, and in quiet by normal-hearing listeners at two sensation levels.

The effect of presentation level on word recognition performance-intensity functions in continuous and interrupted broadband noise and in quiet was explored. Normal-hearing participants were tested at 30 and 50 dB sensation levels (SLs). Performance-intensity functions in both noises were determined at signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns) of 10, 5, 0, -5, -10, -15, and -20 dB. There was no effect of SL presentation on word recognition performance in quiet (p = 0.136). A significant main effect was observed for S/N in both continuous and interrupted broadband noise conditions (p < 0.0001). Performance increased with increases in S/N regardless of the competing noise condition. A significant main effect for SL presentation was only observed in the interrupted noise condition (p = 0.0019). That is, performance was higher for the 50 SL for the interrupted noise condition only. It is suggested that the observed difference in performance in interrupted noise at different SLs offers additional evidence for level-dependent, temporal masking phenomena.

Hearing↗