Efficacy of two speech-perception training methods for aided listeners with mild-to-moderately-severe age-related hearing losses

Abstract

Preliminary analyses of interrelations among variables that correlate with measures of speech perception by aided listeners with mild-to-moderately-severe age-related hearing loses are described. The SPATS Group of nearly 120 hearing-aid users was trained in quiet and noise to identify syllable-constituents and to identify words in simple sentences. The Listen Group of about 60 aided listeners listened for an equal amount of time to recorded narratives. All were given audiometric, working memory, intelligence tests, a battery of psycho-acoustic tests, and a battery of speech-perception tests prior to training. The audiometric and speech perception tests were repeated after training and again after a 3-month retention period. Prior to training, there were large individual differences speech perception scores that could only be partially accounted for by the severity of audiometric loss. Training appears to be more effective for the SPATS Group than for the Listen Group. While improvements with training were generally modest, those who were very good or very poor initially tended to show little or no improvement, while those with middling scores tended to show more improvement. Sentence scores are highly correlated with syllable-constituent scores and with the use of context, and the use of context is correlated with working memory. (Miller and Watson are stockholders in communication Disorders Technology, Inc., and may profit from sales of some the software used in this study.)Preliminary analyses of interrelations among variables that correlate with measures of speech perception by aided listeners with mild-to-moderately-severe age-related hearing loses are described. The SPATS Group of nearly 120 hearing-aid users was trained in quiet and noise to identify syllable-constituents and to identify words in simple sentences. The Listen Group of about 60 aided listeners listened for an equal amount of time to recorded narratives. All were given audiometric, working memory, intelligence tests, a battery of psycho-acoustic tests, and a battery of speech-perception tests prior to training. The audiometric and speech perception tests were repeated after training and again after a 3-month retention period. Prior to training, there were large individual differences speech perception scores that could only be partially accounted for by the severity of audiometric loss. Training appears to be more effective for the SPATS Group than for the Listen Group. While improvements with training wer...