Speech reception thresholds for digits

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Linguistic Accessibility in Healthcare

Background:

• Many Canadians (40%) are non-native English speakers, posing challenges for traditional Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) testing.
• Standard SRT methods using spondaic word lists may be difficult or invalid for individuals with limited English proficiency.
• The need for culturally and linguistically adapted audiological assessments in diverse populations is critical.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the viability of using a closed set of English digits (1, 2, 4, 5, 9) for SRT testing in a Canadian audiology setting.
• To determine if digit-based SRTs correlate with established pure-tone average hearing level measures.
• To assess the utility of digit SRTs for multilingual patient populations.

Main Methods:

• Employed a 10-dB-down and 5-dB-up procedure for digit SRT testing.
• Recruited 130 consecutive patients from an English hospital in Montreal undergoing audiological assessment.
• Included participants with native English, native French, and other ethnic language backgrounds.

Main Results:

• Digit SRTs demonstrated a very high correlation with the standard 3-frequency pure-tone average hearing level (r = .94).
• Digit SRTs also showed a very high correlation with the Fletcher average of the two best speech-frequency pure-tone hearing levels (r = .96).
• The findings indicate strong agreement between digit-based SRTs and established audiological measures.

Conclusions:

• Serial digits are a viable and effective tool for SRT testing in Canadian speech audiometry.
• This method offers a practical alternative for assessing hearing in multilingual populations.
• Further research is recommended to explore the application of digit SRTs in other diverse linguistic settings.