The Role of Auditory Working Memory in Self-Perceived Hearing Difficulties Among Older Adults

The association between working memory and the self-perception of hearing difficulties in older adults is not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between auditory working memory and self-reported hearing difficulties in older adults with varying degrees of pure-tone hearing loss.

Twenty-four older adults with varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss participated. Self-reported hearing difficulties were assessed using the Adult Auditory Performance Scale (AAPS). Auditory working memory was measured using the Word Auditory Recognition and Recall Measure (WARRM).

Results revealed significant negative correlations between the WARRM recall score and the AAPS global, easy listening, noise, and complex listening scores. Pure-tone hearing was significantly correlated with self-reported hearing difficulty in easy listening environments (e.g., quiet and ideal listening) but was not for noise or complex listening. Regression analyses revealed that pure-tone hearing accounted for a significant amount of variability associated with the AAPS easy listening, whereas WARRM recall scores accounted for a significant amount of variability associated with AAPS noise and complex listening scores.

Findings suggest that cognitive factors, such as auditory working memory, contribute to the self-perception of hearing difficulty among older adults. Routine clinical measurement of self-reported hearing difficulties and auditory working memory may provide a more global assessment of the hearing challenges faced by older adults with pure-tone hearing loss.