The Finnish speech in noise test for assessing sensorineural hearing loss

A computerized adaptive Finnish speech in noise test was developed recently. As part of the test's evaluation process 172 patients with sensorineural hearing loss including 20 normally hearing subjects were measured using pure-tone audiometry, speech recognition threshold in noise (SRTN) test and conventional speech audiometry without background noise. As anticipated, sensorineural hearing loss yielded an elevation of SRTN although individual differences were considerable. The SRTN test was accurate as the absolute difference between individual repeated SRTNs was, on average, 1.5 dB (SD 1.5 dB) when the range of possible test values is from approximately -12 to +20 dB. On average, the learning effect was 0.5 dB.