Integrated speech audiometry: objective and subjective performance of elderly listeners.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the ecological validity of the speech audiometry protocol recommended by Punch and Rakerd (2019) when implemented in older adults with hearing impairment. That protocol measures a listener's speech recognition threshold (SRT), most comfortable loudness level for speech (MCL), and uncomfortable loudness level for speech (UCL) in an integrated format that utilises single spondaic words as the stimulus set for all tests.

Design: Stimulus presentation and response collection were fully automated, test times were tracked electronically, and a short questionnaire was administered to assess subjective reactions to the test procedures.

Further Evaluation of a Protocol for Integrated Speech Audiometry.

Purpose: When a bilateral evaluation is conducted with the integrated speech protocol described in Punch and Rakerd (2019), testing for the first ear concludes with a measurement of the uncomfortable loudness level for speech (UCL). The purpose of this study was to assess the possibility that exposure to the high speech intensities required for that UCL test might bias the subsequent measurement of a listener's most comfortable loudness level for speech (MCL) in the opposite ear.

Method: Across 32 test runs, the left and right ear MCLs were established for 16 young adult listeners with normal hearing (five women, 11 men).

Hearing loss and quality of life.

Objective: We sought to identify multidimensional factors associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for use in developing an inventory in which HRQoL is a core concept in evaluating the impact of hearing loss and the efficacy of rehabilitative interventions.

Method: A qualitative approach was used in which we posed two major questions to a focus group consisting of eight adults with self-reported, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss of varying degrees. In essence, those questions were: (1) How do you define quality of life?, and (2) Can you describe specific incidents in your everyday life in which your hearing loss has impacted your quality of life? The discussion was embedded within a framework that utilized a modification of the Critical Incident Technique (CIT).

Evaluation of a Protocol for Integrated Speech Audiometry.

Purpose This project was aimed at evaluating the reliability, validity, and clinical utility of a protocol for integrated measurements of the most comfortable level (MCL) and uncomfortable level (UCL) for speech, in combination with the speech recognition threshold (SRT). We also evaluated the validity of using spondee words when measuring speech MCL and UCL. Method In a randomized block design, equal numbers of women and men with normal hearing, aged 18-29 years, were assigned to each of 3 experimental stimulus conditions: spondee singlets, spondee triplets, or connected discourse ( n = 12 per group).

Targeting hearing health messages for users of personal listening devices.

Purpose: To summarize the literature on patterns and risks of personal listening device (PLD) use, which is ubiquitous among teenagers and young adults. The review emphasizes risk awareness, health concerns of PLD users, inclination to take actions to prevent hearing loss from exposure to loud music, and specific instructional messages that are likely to motivate such preventive actions.

Method: We conducted a systematic, critical review of the English-language scholarly literature on the topic of PLDs and their potential effects on human hearing.

An electroacoustic analysis of over-the-counter hearing aids.

Purpose: To determine whether 11 over-the-counter (OTC) hearing devices have the flexibility to provide adequate gain and output for 3 common hearing loss configurations.

Method: The 11 OTC hearing devices were separated into 2 price groups: a low-range group (<$100) consisting of 8 hearing devices and a midrange group ($100-$500) consisting of 3 hearing devices. Gain and output were prescribed for 3 hearing loss configurations using National Acoustic Laboratories prescriptive procedures.

The effects of training format on earplug performance.

This experiment investigated the effect of small-group versus individual hearing loss prevention (HLP) training on the attenuation performance of passive insert-type hearing protection devices (HPDs). A subject-fit (SF) methodology, which gave naive listeners access only to the instructions printed on the HPD product label, was used to determine real-ear attenuation at threshold (REAT) at third-octave noise bands between 125-8000 Hz. REAT measurements were augmented by use of the Hearing Loss Prevention Attitude-Belief (HLPAB) survey, a field-tested self-assessment tool developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Multimedia hearing handicap inventory: reliability and clinical utility.

Purpose: This preliminary study evaluated the test-retest reliability, internal-consistency reliability, and listener reactions to the design and functional utility of the Multimedia Hearing Handicap Inventory (MHHI).

Method: Participants were 51 adults exhibiting hearing sensitivity ranging from normal hearing to severe hearing loss. Different test-retest sequences, using different combinations of the long and short programs of the MHHI, were administered to 3 experimental groups composed of 17 participants each.

Speech-clarity judgments of hearing-aid-processed speech in noise: differing polar patterns and acoustic environments.

This investigation assessed the extent to which listeners' preferences for hearing aid microphone polar patterns vary across listening environments, and whether normal-hearing and inexperienced and experienced hearing-impaired listeners differ in such preferences. Paired-comparison judgments of speech clarity (i.e.

Effects of test order on most comfortable and uncomfortable loudness levels for speech.

This study examined test-order effects on most comfortable loudness (MCL) and uncomfortable loudness (UCL) levels for spondaic words in 2 groups of 30 normal hearing listeners each. For Group 1, MCL was measured first, followed by UCL. For Group 2, UCL was measured first, and then MCL.

Most comfortable and uncomfortable loudness levels: six decades of research.

This article critically reviews the influence of such factors as psychophysical testing method, stimulus type, and instructional set on most comfortable loudness (MCL) and uncomfortable loudness (UCL) levels. Generally, research indicates that test methods and instructions strongly affect both MCL and UCL while stimulus conditions affect them less substantially. Overall, the data suggest lower reliability for MCL than for UCL and lower reliability for pure-tone MCLs than for speech MCLs.

Methods and applications of the audibility index in hearing aid selection and fitting.

During the first half of the 20th century, communications engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories developed the articulation model for predicting speech intelligibility transmitted through different telecommunication devices under varying electroacoustic conditions. The profession of audiology adopted this model and its quantitative aspects, known as the Articulation Index and Speech Intelligibility Index, and applied these indices to the prediction of unaided and aided speech intelligibility in hearing-impaired listeners. Over time, the calculation methods of these indices-referred to collectively in this paper as the Audibility Index-have been continually refined and simplified for clinical use.