Effect of Noise on the Comprehension of Everyday Speech by Normally Hearing Adults

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the ability of normally hearing adults to comprehend everyday speech at various signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) using the University of Queensland Understanding Everyday Speech Test. Participants were 18 normally hearing adults (4 males and 14 females) with a mean age of 28.8 years. The speech material, consisting of 2 practice passages and 10 test passages, was delivered to each participant under binaural listening conditions at 65 dB SPL in sound field. The participant listened to the test passages under 5 different listening conditions (quiet, SNR = 5, 0, −5, and −10 dB). After the presentation of each passage, the participant was required to answer 4 content-related multiple choice questions. The maximum score for each passage was 4. The results of the study showed that the mean speech scores for the quiet, 5 dB, 0 dB, −5 dB, and −10 dB SNR conditions were 3.89, 3.83, 3.72, 3.64, and 2.36, respectively. A trend of diminishing speech scores with decreasing SNR was observed. The present study showed that speech comprehension in noisy environments by normally hearing adults was compromised especially at the most unfavorable noise condition of −10 dB SNR.