Development of a Test Battery for Evaluating Speech Perception in Complex Listening Environments: Effects of Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Objective: To evaluate the speech-in-noise performance of listeners with different levels of hearing loss in a variety of complex listening environments. Design: The quick speech-in-noise (QuickSIN)-based test battery was used to measure the speech recognition performance of listeners with different levels of hearing loss. Subjective estimates of speech reception thresholds (SRTs) corresponding to 100% and 0% speech intelligibility, respectively, were obtained using a method of adjustment before objective measurement of the actual SRT corresponding to 50% speech intelligibility in every listening condition. Results: Of the seven alternative listening conditions, two conditions, one involving time-compressed, reverberant speech (TC+Rev), and the other (N0Sπ) having in-phase noise masker (N0) and out-of-phase target (Sπ), were found to be substantially more sensitive to the effect of hearing loss than the standard QuickSIN test. The performance in these two conditions also correlated with self-reported difficulties in attention/concentration during speech communication and in localizing the sound source, respectively. Hearing thresholds could account for about 50% or less variance in SRTs in any listening condition. Subjectively estimated SRTs (SRTs corresponding to 0% and 100% speech intelligibility) were highly correlated with the objective SRT measurements (SRT corresponding to 50% speech intelligibility). Conclusions: A test battery that includes the TC+Rev and the N0Sπ conditions would be useful in identifying individuals with hearing loss with speech-in-noise deficits in everyday communication. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This research was funded by the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) through a Health Promotion and Preventive Initiative (HPPI) program grant. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of Army/Navy/Air Force, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government. The identification of specific products, scientific instrumentation, or organizations is considered an integral part of the scientific endeavor and does not constitute endorsement or implied endorsement on the part of the author, DoD, or any component agency. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Address for correspondence: Sandeep A. Phatak, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Building 19, Room 5504, 8901 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20889, USA. E-mail: s.a.phatak@gmail.com Received July 25, 2017; accepted January 23, 2018. Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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