Gustafson Samantha J, Ricketts Todd A, Picou Erin M
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2021 Feb 17;64(2):635-650. doi: 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00281. Epub 2021 Jan 19.
Purpose This study sought to evaluate the effects of common hearing aid microphone technologies on speech recognition and listening effort, and to evaluate potential predictive factors related to microphone benefits for school-age children with hearing loss in a realistic listening situation. Method Children ( = 17, ages 10-17 years) with bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss were fitted with hearing aids set to include three programs: omnidirectional, adaptive directional, and omnidirectional + remote microphone. Children completed a dual-task paradigm in a moderately reverberant room. The primary task included monosyllabic word recognition, with target speech presented at 60 dB A from 0° (front) or 180° (back) azimuth. The secondary task was a "go/no-go," visual shape-recognition task. Multitalker babble noise created a +5 dB SNR. Children were evaluated in two speaker conditions (front, back) using all three hearing aid programs. The remote microphone transmitter remained at the front speaker throughout testing. Speech recognition performance was calculated from the primary task while listening effort was measured as response time during the secondary task. Results Speech presented from the back significantly increased listening effort and caused a reduction in speech perception when directional and remote microphones were used. Considerable variability was found in pattern of benefit across microphones and source location. Clinical measures did not predict benefit patterns with directional or remote microphones; however, child age and performance with omnidirectional microphones did. Conclusions When compared to a traditional omnidirectional setting, the directional and remote microphone configurations evaluated in this study have the potential to provide benefit for some children and increase difficulty for others when used in dynamic environments. A child's performance with omnidirectional hearing aids could be used to better inform clinical recommendations for these technologies.
目的 本研究旨在评估常见助听器麦克风技术对言语识别和聆听努力的影响，并在实际聆听情境中评估与听力损失学龄儿童麦克风益处相关的潜在预测因素。方法 对患有双侧感音神经性听力损失的儿童（ = 17名，年龄10 - 17岁）佩戴设置了三个程序的助听器：全向性、自适应方向性和全向性 + 远程麦克风。儿童在一个有适度混响的房间里完成一项双重任务范式。主要任务包括单音节词识别，目标言语在0°（前方）或180°（后方）方位以60 dB A呈现。次要任务是一个“是/否”视觉形状识别任务。多说话者嘈杂噪声产生 +5 dB 的信噪比。使用所有三种助听器程序在两种扬声器条件（前方、后方）下对儿童进行评估。在整个测试过程中，远程麦克风发射器始终位于前方扬声器处。根据主要任务计算言语识别性能，同时将聆听努力测量为次要任务期间的反应时间。结果 当使用方向性和远程麦克风时，从后方呈现的言语显著增加了聆听努力并导致言语感知下降。在不同麦克风和声源位置的益处模式中发现了相当大的变异性。临床指标无法预测方向性或远程麦克风的益处模式；然而，儿童年龄和全向性麦克风的表现可以预测。结论 与传统的全向性设置相比，本研究中评估的方向性和远程麦克风配置在动态环境中使用时，有可能对一些儿童有益，而对另一些儿童增加难度。儿童使用全向性助听器的表现可用于更好地为这些技术的临床建议提供参考。
