The interaction of hearing loss and level-dependent hearing protection on speech recognition in noise.

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The interaction of hearing loss and level-dependent hearing protection on speech recognition in noise.

Int J Audiol. 2015 Feb;54 Suppl 1:S9-S18

Authors: Giguère C, Laroche C, Vaillancourt V

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of different control settings of level-dependent hearing protectors on speech recognition performance in interaction with hearing loss.
DESIGN: Controlled laboratory experiment with two level-dependent devices (Peltor® PowerCom Plus™ and Nacre QuietPro®) in two military noises.
STUDY SAMPLE: Word recognition scores were collected in protected and unprotected conditions for 45 participants grouped into four hearing profile categories ranging from within normal limits to moderate-to-severe hearing loss.
RESULTS: When the level-dependent mode was switched off to simulate conventional hearing protection, there were large differences across hearing profile categories regarding the effects of wearing the devices on speech recognition in noise; participants with normal hearing showed little effect while participants in the most hearing-impaired category showed large decrements in scores compared to unprotected listening. Activating the level-dependent mode of the devices produced large speech recognition benefits over the passive mode at both low and high gain pass-through settings. The category of participants with the most impaired hearing benefitted the most from the level-dependent mode.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that level-dependent hearing protection circuitry can provide substantial benefits in speech recognition performance in noise, compared to conventional passive protection, for individuals covering a wide range of hearing losses.

PMID: 25549169 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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