title: Perception of Consonants in Speech-Shaped Noise among Young and Middle-Aged Adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was carried out to compare the consonant perception of young and middle-aged adults in quiet and noisy listening conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine adults aged between 18 and 55 years old participated in the study, and were separated into two groups based on their age: Group I, comprising 15 young adults aged between 18 and 40 years old, and Group II, comprising 14 middle-aged adults aged between 41 and 55 years old. All the participants had normal hearing sensitivity in both ears.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consonant perception was better in favorable listening conditions for both young and middle-aged adults. Comparison of the consonant identification scores of young and middle-aged adults showed significantly poorer scores among middle-aged adults in both quiet and noisy listening conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of the present study reveal that middle-aged adults have small but significant consonant perception difficulties compared to younger adults in quiet and noisy listening conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, India. mohan.kumark@manipal.edu.
authors.forename: Mohan Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kalaiah
authors.forename: Deepthi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Jayashree S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ranjan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult