title: How close should a student with unilateral hearing loss stay to a teacher in a noisy classroom?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the optimal seating position in a noisy classroom for students with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) without any auditory rehabilitation as compared to normal-hearing adults and student peers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Speech discrimination scores (SDS) for babble noise at distances of 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 m from a speaker were measured in a simulated classroom measuring 300 m3 (reverberation time = 0.43 s).
  
  
  METHODS
  Students with UHL (n = 25, 10-19 years old), normal-hearing students (n = 25), and normal-hearing adults (n = 25).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SDS for the normal-hearing adults at the 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10 m distances were 90.0±6.4%, 84.7±7.9%, 80.6±10.0%, 75.5±12.6%, and 68.8±13.0%, respectively. Those for the normal-hearing students were 90.1±6.2%, 78.1±9.4%, 66.4±10.7%, 61.8±11.2%, and 60.8±10.9%. Those for the UHL group were 81.7±9.0%, 70.2±12.4%, 62.1±17.2%, 52.4±17.1%, and 48.9±17.9%. The UHL group needed a seating position of 4.35 m to achieve an equivalent mean SDS as those for normal-hearing adults seated at 10 m. Likewise, the UHL group needed to be seated at 6.27 m to have an equivalent SDS as the normal-hearing students seated at 10 m.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Students with UHL in noisy classrooms require seating ranging from 4.35 m to no further than 6.27 m away from a teacher to obtain a SDS comparable to normal hearing adults and student peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. hinoh@catholic.ac.kr
authors.forename: Heil
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Yong-Gyu
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D004779:Environment Design; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005260:Female; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011312:Pressure; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013067:Speech Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration