Tai Yihsin, Husain Fatima T
Department of Speech & Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Am J Audiol. 2020 Dec 9;29(4):916-929. doi: 10.1044/2020_AJA-20-00050. Epub 2020 Nov 25.
Purpose Difficulties in speech-in-noise understanding are often reported in individuals with tinnitus. Building on our previous findings that speech-in-noise performance is correlated with subjective loudness of tinnitus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of tinnitus pitch on consonant recognition in noise. Method Pure-tone audiometry and the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test were conducted on 66 participants categorized into four groups by their hearing sensitivity and self-report of tinnitus. Consonant recognition scores at various frequency ranges were obtained at the 5 dB SNR condition of the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test. Participants with tinnitus also completed a tinnitus pitch-matching procedure. Correlation analyses were conducted between tinnitus pitch and the frequency of the worst consonant recognition, and the error rates based on word and sentence position were compared. Results Regardless of hearing sensitivity, tinnitus pitch did not correlate with the frequency of the worst consonant recognition. Sentence-initial word recognition was affected by hearing loss, whereas sentence-final word recognition was not affected by hearing loss or tinnitus. In contrast to individuals with normal hearing, participants with hearing loss varied in full-sentence recognition, with those reporting tinnitus exhibiting significantly higher error rates. Conclusions The findings suggest that the effect of tinnitus on consonant recognition in noise may involve higher level functions more than perceptual characteristics of tinnitus. Furthermore, for individuals with speech-in-noise concerns, clinical evaluation should address both hearing sensitivity and the presence of tinnitus. Future speech-in-noise studies should incorporate cognitive tests and, possibly, brain imaging to parse out the contribution of cognitive factors, such as cognitive control, in speech-in-noise in tinnitus.
耳鸣患者常报告在噪声环境中理解言语存在困难。基于我们之前的研究发现，即噪声环境下的言语表现与耳鸣的主观响度相关，本研究旨在探讨耳鸣音调对噪声中辅音识别的影响。方法：对66名参与者进行纯音听力测试和快速噪声环境言语测试，根据他们的听力敏感度和耳鸣自我报告将其分为四组。在快速噪声环境言语测试的5 dB信噪比条件下，获得不同频率范围内的辅音识别分数。耳鸣患者还完成了耳鸣音调匹配程序。对耳鸣音调与最差辅音识别频率之间进行相关性分析，并比较基于单词和句子位置的错误率。结果：无论听力敏感度如何，耳鸣音调与最差辅音识别频率均无相关性。句首单词识别受听力损失影响，而句末单词识别不受听力损失或耳鸣影响。与听力正常的个体相比，听力损失患者的全句识别存在差异，报告有耳鸣的患者错误率显著更高。结论：研究结果表明，耳鸣对噪声中辅音识别的影响可能更多地涉及高级功能，而非耳鸣的感知特征。此外，对于有噪声环境言语问题的个体，临床评估应同时关注听力敏感度和耳鸣的存在情况。未来关于噪声环境言语的研究应纳入认知测试，可能还应包括脑成像，以剖析认知因素（如认知控制）在耳鸣患者噪声环境言语中的作用。
