Loudness discomfort levels of hearing-impaired listeners using speech material

This study was undertaken to: (1) investigate the effects of speech materials on the loudness discomfort level (LDL); (2) assess the intrasession stability among three LDL trials; and (3) examine the relationships between the speech LDL and the pure-tone and spondee thresholds. Ninety-six adults with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss were tested. Findings showed little or no difference among five commercially available speech materials. Thus, it was concluded that differences in speech materials do not comprise a major source of variability among studies when comparing mean LDL data. Group means may, however, obscure significant individual variations in LDL's that result from differing speech materials. Considerable LDL variability among listeners with similar thresholds was found, suggesting an intolerably high error rate for predictive purposes.