Evaluation of a synthetic version of the digits-in-noise test and its characteristics in CI recipients

Abstract

Objective The goal of this study was the evaluation of a synthetic version of the Digits-in-Noise (DiN) in participants with normal hearing. Additionally, the basis characteristics of the DiN in CI recipients were investigated. Design and study sample Twenty participants with normal hearing and 21 CI recipients with a Nucleus®-System ran two to three adaptive and up to five fixed measurements. Afterwards the discrimination function was measured with fixed signal-to-noise ratios. Results All subjects were able to perform the DiN within three minutes per test run. The median speech reception threshold (SRT) for the NH was −8.1 dBSNR, with a median steepness of 23%/dBSNR. The median absolute test-retest difference in the NH group was 0.4 dB (range: 0 to 1.5 dB). In the CI group, the SRTs range from −6.6 to +12.4 dBSNR with a median test-retest difference of 0.4 dB (range: 0 to 6.1 dB). Conclusion The synthetic DiN is a valuable complement of the audiometric test battery in CI recipients. The excellent applicability is also particularly helpful in poor performing CI recipients. With its small time exposure, it is a time- and cost-saving test, which could also be used at home via app to check the individual hearing success.