Testing the Informativeness of Diverse Measures of Auditory Processing for Clinical Audiological Practice in
E Sebastian Lelo de Larrea-Mancera1,2,3,4, Rodolfo Solís-Vivanco2, Yolanda Sánchez-Jiménez5
1Department of Psychology, Center for Cognitive and Brain Health, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
Purpose:
Standard clinical audiologic assessment is limited in its ability to capture variance in self-reported hearing difficulty. Additionally, the costs associated with clinical testing in audiology create financial barriers for hearing health care in developing countries like Mexico. This study used an open-source Spanish-language tool called PART (Portable Automated Rapid Testing) to test the hypothesis that a battery of assessments of auditory processing can complement standard clinical audiological assessment to better capture the variance of self-reported hearing difficulty.
Method:
Forty-three adults between 40 and 69 years of age were tested in Mexico City using a traditional clinical pure-tone audiogram, cognitive screening, and a battery of PART-based auditory processing assessments including a speech-on-speech competition spatial release from masking task. Results were compared to self-reported hearing difficulty, assessed with a Spanish-language adaptation of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly-Screening Version (HHIE-S).
Results:
Several measures from the PART battery exhibited stronger correlations with self-reported hearing difficulties than the pure-tone audiogram. The spatial release from masking task best captured variance in HHIE-S scores and remained significant after controlling for the effects of age, audibility, and cognitive score.
Conclusions:
The spatial release from masking task can complement traditional clinical measures to better account for patient's self-reported hearing difficulty. Open-source access to this test in PART supports its implementation for Spanish speakers in clinical settings around the world at low cost.
Supplemental Material:
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24470140.
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