Self-reported hearing difficulties and speech-in-noise test performance - what can we find behind a "normal"...

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech Perception
• Psychoacoustics

Background:

• Difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments is a common complaint, even among individuals with normal hearing thresholds.
• Auditory processing and self-perception of auditory ability are crucial for effective communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate speech-in-noise difficulties in normal-hearing subjects.
• To assess the relationship between self-reported auditory perception and objective speech-in-noise test performance across different age groups.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-nine participants aged 18-59 years were grouped by decade.
• Evaluations included audiometry, auditory processing tests, self-report (Pt-AIADH), and a speech-in-noise test.

Main Results:

• All age groups reported difficulties with noise intelligibility, with higher scores on the Pt-AIADH noise intelligibility domain.
• Older adults demonstrated poorer performance on the speech-in-noise test, requiring a higher signal-to-noise ratio.
• A significant correlation was found between self-reported intelligibility in noise and speech-in-noise test results.

Conclusions:

• Normal-hearing individuals across all tested age groups report challenges with speech intelligibility in noise.
• Increased self-reported auditory difficulty in noise is associated with worse performance on speech-in-noise tests.
• Middle-aged adults showed a particular correlation between self-perception and objective performance in noisy conditions.