Verification of the corrected Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) score in adults with cochlear hearing loss

Traditionally, tests of central auditory function have been limited when hearing loss is present. By design the Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW) test incorporates a correction procedure which attempts to account for the effects of peripheral distortion. Results obtained in the present study, based on 92 adult males with bilateral, cochlear hearing loss, showed no significant change in corrected SSW (C-SSW) scores in cases with a pure-tone average less than 50 dB. Uncorrected (R-SSW) scores were highly correlated with the word discrimination score, but this relationship was neutralized when the correction procedure was applied. An effect of hearing loss on the C-SSW was found to plateau after 50 dB Hl. The change in C-SSW may shift the performance category to a poorer range. Use of the C-SSW appears not to be compromised by cochlear hearing loss up to 50 dB. However, cross-validation of SSW scores with other audiometric results should be used particularly in cases of cochlear hearing loss greater than 40 to 50 dB.