During diagnostics and rehabilitation of hearing impairment, tests of speech recognition in quiet and in noise (e.g., Kollmeier and Wesselkamp, 1997 Wagener et al., 1999) are performed to determine the degree of hearing loss and to verify the benefit of hearing devices. Under real-life listening conditions, background noise is typically present and hinders effective communication, especially if any of the dialogue partners is suffering from a hearing loss. For the EHI group, the pure-tone thresholds (averaged across 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) were significantly associated with the SRTs, despite the fact that all signals were amplified and therefore in principle audible. Whereas better lexical and semantic abilities were associated with lower (better) SRTs in this group, there was a negative association between attentional abilities and speech recognition in the presence of spatially separated speech-like maskers. When hearing thresholds were controlled for, composed cognitive factors were significantly associated with the SRTs for the ENH listeners. These associations were different for the two groups. In repeated linear regression analyses, composite scores of cognitive test outcomes (evaluated using PCA) were included to predict SRTs. Age-matched groups of older adults with either age-appropriate hearing (ENH, n = 20) or aided hearing impairment (EHI, n = 21) participated. In addition, a neuropsychological test battery was administered, which included measures of verbal working and short-term memory, executive functioning, selective and divided attention, and lexical and semantic abilities. To that end, speech recognition threshold (SRT) measurements were performed under several masking conditions that varied along the perceptual dimensions of dip listening, spatial separation, and informational masking. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between performance in cognitive tasks and speech recognition under different listening conditions in older adults with either age appropriate hearing or hearing-impairment. These factors include audibility, and age-related changes in supra-threshold auditory processing abilities, and it has been suggested that differences in cognitive abilities may also be important. Several studies have addressed the underlying factors that contribute to these differences. 4Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DenmarkĮlderly listeners are known to differ considerably in their ability to understand speech in noise.3Medizinische Physik, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany.2Cluster of Excellence “Hearing4All”, Oldenburg, Germany.1Institute of Hearing Technology and Audiology, Jade University of Applied Sciences, Oldenburg, Germany.Theresa Nuesse 1,2 *, Rike Steenken 1,2, Tobias Neher 2,3,4 and Inga Holube 1,2
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