Influence of aided audibility on speech recognition performance with frequency composition for children and adults

Abstract

Objective

The primary purpose of this project was to evaluate the influence of speech audibility on speech recognition with frequency composition, a frequency-lowering algorithm used in hearing aids.

Design

Participants were tested to determine word and sentence recognition thresholds in background noise, with and without frequency composition. The audibility of speech was quantified using the speech intelligibility index (SII).

Study Sample

Participants included 17 children (ages 6–16) and 21 adults (ages 19 to 72) with bilateral mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss.

Results

Word and sentence recognition thresholds did not change significantly with frequency composition. Participants with better aided speech audibility had better speech recognition in noise, regardless of processing condition, than those with poorer aided audibility. For the child participants, changes in the word recognition threshold between processing conditions were predictable from aided speech audibility. However, this relationship depended strongly on one participant with a low SII and otherwise, changes in speech recognition between frequency composition off and on were not predicable from aided speech audibility.

Conclusion

While these results suggest that children who have a low-aided SII may benefit from frequency composition, further data are needed to generalise these findings to a greater number of participants and variety of stimuli.

Keywords:

• Hearing aids
• speech perception
• paediatric
• psychoacoustics/hearing science

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Oticon Inc. for providing the frequency-lowering algorithm.

Disclosure statement

This project was previously presented as a poster. Browning, J., Spratford, M., Brennan, M., & McCreery, R. (2015). Audibility and spectral resolution influence speech recognition for a novel frequency lowering algorithm. American Auditory Society, Scottsdale, AZ – March.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NIH/NIDCD under Grant number R01DC013591 and the Andrew Hetzel Research Fund. Jenna Browning completed the Short-Term Research Training Program, supported by NIH/NIDCD under Grant number T35DC008757.