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The Words-in-Noise Test (WIN), list 3: a practice list.
Richard H Wilson1, Kelly L Watts
1James H. Quillen VA Medical Center, Mountain Home, TN, USA. richard.wilson2@va.gov
Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
|February 23, 2012
Summary
The new Words-in-Noise Test (WIN) List 3 shows significantly different performance compared to Lists 1 and 2 for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Use WIN List 3 cautiously, primarily for practice or standalone measures, not when equivalent performance is critical.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Speech Perception
- Hearing Science
Background:
- The Words-in-Noise Test (WIN) quantifies word understanding in noise.
- WIN Lists 1 and 2 were developed for equivalent recognition performance.
- WIN List 3 was created as a practice list.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of WIN List 3.
- To compare WIN List 3 performance with Lists 1 and 2.
- To assess performance in young normal-hearing and older hearing-impaired listeners.
Main Methods:
- A quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design was employed.
- Participants included 24 young adults with normal hearing and 24 older adults with sensorineural hearing loss.
- Word levels were varied against a fixed babble noise level.
Main Results:
- WIN List 3 showed significantly higher signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for 50% correct recognition compared to Lists 1 and 2.
- Normal-hearing listeners required 7.4 dB SNR for List 3 vs. 4.3-5.1 dB for Lists 1-2.
- Hearing-impaired listeners required 15.8 dB SNR for List 3 vs. 12.2-12.4 dB for Lists 1-2.
Conclusions:
- A significant ~3 dB performance difference exists between WIN List 3 and Lists 1-2.
- WIN List 3 is not equivalent to Lists 1 and 2 for recognition performance.
- WIN List 3 should be used cautiously, for practice or non-equivalent measures only.
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