Disturbed speech intelligibility in noise despite a normal audiogram: a defect in temporal resolution?
Patients with complaints of disturbed speech intelligibility in noise, despite normal standard audiograms, constitute a unique yet not uncommon population of listeners. The literature on this patient group is reviewed, and the term Idiopathic Discriminatory Dysfunction (IDD) is introduced in an attempt to standardize and qualify the distinct characteristics of this entity. Preliminary studies of these patients have hypothesized both frequency and temporal resolution deficits underlying this impairment. A representative group of 15 patients suffering from IDD were tested using a new speech-in-noise paradigm designed to test temporal resolution. These patients were found to have near-normal temporal resolving capacity as determined by this task.
Rappaport
J M
JM
Department of Otolaryngology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Phillips
D P
DP
Gulliver
J M
JM
D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013065:Speech Intelligibility