Effect of Contextual Information on Speech-In-Noise Perception among Young and Older Adults with Normal Hearing
Ritik Roushan1, Mohan Kumar Kalaiah, Usha Shastri
1Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore, India.
Purpose:
This study aimed to investigate the effect of contextual information on speech-in-noise perception among young and older adults with normal hearing sensitivity.
Method:
A comprehensive search was carried out in electronic databases, that is, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Embase, to identify relevant studies exploring the effects of context on speech-in-noise perception among younger and older adults. Studies comparing the perception of high- and low-context sentences in noise between young and older adults were included. Twenty studies involving 840 participants were included in the analysis. A mixed-method appraisal tool was employed for quality appraisal.
Results:
Multitalker babble was found to be more challenging than other background noises. In high- and low-context conditions, young adults outperformed older adults. However, older adults benefited more from contextual cues. Meta-analysis showed that at moderate signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), contextual information more significantly improved speech-in-noise perception in older adults compared with young adults (Cohen's d = 0.30, 95% CI [0.09, 0.51]). Effect sizes were larger but non-significant at low (Cohen's d = 0.66, 95% CI [-0.30, 1.61]) and high (Cohen's d = 1.34, 95% CI [-0.64, 3.33]) SNRs because of high heterogeneity.
Conclusion:
This systematic review revealed many studies reporting greater contextual benefit for older adults and few studies showing comparable or reduced benefit for younger adults. The meta-analysis findings revealed greater benefits at moderate SNRs among older adults.
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