Binaural speech recognition in continuous and intermittent noises in people with hearing loss

Abstract

Multiple tests have been developed to quantify speech recognition in noise, but the characteristics of the masking noise vary significantly across tests and can considerably impact performance and clinical interpretation. Using the HINT, speech perception in 24 young adults with normal hearing was assessed using both the standard masker (a continuous speech-spectrum noise) and an intermittent version of the masker at an ON-OFF rate of 16 Hz. Intermittency helps in extracting speech from the "quiet" segments of the noise. Speech recognition thresholds for frontal speech were better in the intermittent than the continuous noise by an amount of 13 and 10 dB for noise maskers located in front or side, respectively, The average difference in thresholds between the noise front and side conditions, called the binaural advantage, was 4.7 and 8.4 dB for the intermittent and continuous noises, respectively. Data collected with people presenting different hearing loss profiles also show binaural and intermittency advantages, but to a lesser degree. Considering that people encounter a wide a range of fluctuating noises in daily life, these results motivate adding an intermittent noise condition to the HINT protocol to better reflect the challenges faced by individuals with hearing loss. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America.