Development of a test of suprathreshold acuity in noise in Brazilian Portuguese: a new method for hearing screening and surveillance.

Nara Vaez,Liliane Desgualdo-Pereira,Alessia Paglialonga

doi:10.1155/2014/652838

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a speech-in-noise test for hearing screening and surveillance in Brazilian Portuguese based on the evaluation of suprathreshold acuity performances. The SUN test (Speech Understanding in Noise) consists of a list of intervocalic consonants in noise presented in a multiple-choice paradigm by means of a touch screen. The test provides one out of three possible results: “a hearing check is recommended” (red light), “a hearing check would be advisable” (yellow light), and “no hearing difficulties” (green light) (Paglialonga et al., Comput. Biol. Med. 2014). This novel test was developed in a population of 30 normal hearing young adults and 101 adults with varying degrees of hearing impairment and handicap, including normal hearing. The test had 84% sensitivity and 76% specificity compared to conventional pure-tone screening and 83% sensitivity and 86% specificity to detect disabling hearing impairment. The test outcomes were in line with the degree of self-perceived hearing handicap. The results found here paralleled those reported in the literature for the SUN test and for conventional speech-in-noise measures. This study showed that the proposed test might be a viable method to identify individuals with hearing problems to be referred to further audiological assessment and intervention.

Highlights

Age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss are common health problems in adults and older adults
The impact of hearing problems in adults can be substantial because many people may get used to the slow progression of their impairment and typically do not seek help or seek help very late, on average from eight to ten years after the onset of first complaints and symptoms, once the associated handicap and disability have a severe impact on their lives [10,11,12]. This brings along considerable burden on the health care system and society as the consequences of untreated hearing loss are huge in older adults and, and increasingly, in middle-aged adults who are still fully engaged in their working life as well as in their social and personal domains [6, 11,12,13]
This paper described the development of a test of suprathreshold acuity in noise in the Brazilian Portuguese language, that is, the SUN (Speech Understanding in Noise) test, a user-operated speech-in-noise test for hearing screening and surveillance, already available in the English, Italian, German, and French languages

Summary

Introduction

Age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss are common health problems in adults and older adults. The impact of hearing problems in adults can be substantial because many people may get used to the slow progression of their impairment and typically do not seek help or seek help very late, on average from eight to ten years after the onset of first complaints and symptoms, once the associated handicap and disability have a severe impact on their lives [10,11,12] This brings along considerable burden on the health care system and society as the consequences of untreated hearing loss are huge in older adults and, and increasingly, in middle-aged adults who are still fully engaged in their working life as well as in their social and personal domains [6, 11,12,13]

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