Consonant confusions in patients with sensorineural hearing loss

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech Science
• Hearing Loss Research

Background:

• Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) can affect speech perception.
• Understanding consonant confusions is crucial for audiological rehabilitation.
• Previous research has explored speech sound discrimination in hearing-impaired individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze consonant confusion patterns in individuals with SNHL.
• To investigate the relationship between hearing loss characteristics and speech sound confusions.
• To classify subjects based on audiometric configuration using confusion data.

Main Methods:

• Obtained consonant confusion matrices from 22 SNHL outpatients.
• Presented CV and VC nonsense syllables monaurally at SRT + 40 dB.
• Conducted testing over two days and analyzed phonological features and intersubject similarity.

Main Results:

• Speech perception performance and confusion patterns remained stable over time.
• Consonant confusion patterns varied significantly with the degree and configuration of hearing loss.
• Multidimensional scaling analysis successfully classified subjects into three audiometric groups: normal, flat/rising, and high-frequency loss.

Conclusions:

• Consonant confusion patterns are influenced by SNHL characteristics.
• Audiometric configuration is a key factor in predicting speech sound confusions.
• This analysis provides a method for classifying hearing loss based on speech perception data.