Hearing in Noise Test, HINT-Brazil, in normal-hearing children

Publication date: Available online 9 May 2017
Source:Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology
Author(s): Carolina Verônica Lino Novelli, Nádia Giulian de Carvalho, Maria Francisca Colella Santos
IntroductionThe auditory processing is related to certain skills such as speech recognition in noise. The HINT-Brazil test allows the measurement of the Speech/Noise ratio however there are no studies in the national literature that establish parameters for the child population.ObjectiveTo analyze the performance of normal-hearing subjects aged 8–10 years old in tasks for speech recognition in noise using HINT test.MethodsSixty schoolchildren were evaluated. They were between 8 and 10 years of age, of both genders, and had no auditory and school complaints, with results ranking within normality for the Basic Audiological Assessment and the Dichotic Digits Test. HINT-Brazil test was applied with headphones, with the Speech/Noise ratio in conditions of frontal noise, noise to the right, and noise to the left being investigated. The software calculated the Noise Composite, which corresponds to the weighted mean of the tested conditions.ResultsThere was no statistically significant difference between the ears, nor between the genders. There was a statistically significant difference for age ranges of 8 and 10 years, in situations with noise, and for Noise Composite. The age group of 10 years showed better performance than the age group of 8; the age group of 9 years did not show statistically significant difference regarding the other age ranges. We suggest the values of mean and standard deviation of the S/N ratio, considering the age ranges of: 8 years – NS: −2.09 (±1.09); RN: −7.64 (±1.72); LN: −7.53 (±2.80); NC: −4.86 (±1.31); 9 years – NS: −2.82 (±0.74); RN: −8.49 (±2.24); LN: −8.41 (±1.75); NC: −5.63 (±1.02); 10 years – NS: −3.01 (±0.95); RN: −9.47 (±1.43); LN: −9.16 (±1.65); NC: −6.16 (±0.91).ConclusionHINT-Brazil test is a simple and fast test, and is not difficult to performed with normal-hearing children. The results confirm that it is an efficient test to be used with the age range evaluated.



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