Speech-recognition difficulties of the hearing-impaired elderly: the contributions of audibility.
The role that sensorineural hearing loss plays in the speech-recognition difficulties of the hearing-impaired elderly is examined. One approach to this issue was to make between-group comparisons of performance for three groups of subjects: (a) young normal-hearing adults; (b) elderly hearing-impaired adults; and (c) young normal-hearing adults with simulated sensorineural hearing loss equivalent to that of the elderly subjects produced by a spectrally shaped masking noise. Another approach to this issue employed correlational analyses to examine the relation between audibility and speech recognition within the group of elderly hearing-impaired subjects. An additional approach was pursued in which an acoustical index incorporating adjustments for threshold elevation was used to examine the role audibility played in the speech-recognition performance of the hearing-impaired elderly. A wide range of listening conditions was sampled in this experiment. The conclusion was that the primary determiner of speech-recognition performance in the elderly hearing-impaired subjects was their threshold elevation.
Humes
L E
LE
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405.
Roberts
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D012001:Hyperacusis; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests / Q000592:standards*; D013067:Speech Perception