A major problem for most patients with hearing impairment is understanding speech in background noise. In the current study, we investigated to search of threshold of speech recognition at various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) using the monosyllabic words and sentences. Three listener groups consisting of 7 normal-hearing, 20 listeners with mild degree of sensorineural hearing loss, and 20 listeners with moderate degree of hearing loss (HL) were participated in this study. The subjects listen to the target monosyllables or sentences at eight conditions of SNRs (ranging from –12 to 9 dB SNR). The SNR required for 50% word recognition was -2.13 dB, -1.22 dB and 0.55 dB for normal-hearing, mild, and moderate HL listeners. The SNR for sentence recognition was -2.86 dB, -2.31 dB and –1.85 dB for the same listener groups. The 50% recognitions for sentence were obtained at a significantly lower SNR than for monosyllabic word. Regardless of the stimulus type, SNR for speech recognition threshold by sensorineural hearing loss with moderate HL were significantly higher than normal and mild HL. The results can be useful for development of speech-in-noise recognition test and decision on efficient SNR in aural rehabilitation for hearing aid users.
INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSIONS CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES
