Dichotic listening: A predictor of speech-in-noise perception in older hearing-impaired adults?
Abstract
The objective of the study was to examine the relations between two auditory processes, dichotic listening and speech perception in noise. Both involve listening to competing signals and significantly decline with age. Dichotic listening and speech identification in multitalker noise were tested in 36 elderly participants with symmetric mild-to-moderate hearing loss. High negative correlations between the SNR levels in which 50% and 30% of the words were correctly identified and the dichotic scores were found. These correlations were attributed to the dichotic score in the non-dominant ear. Our data suggest that dichotic listening, a major processing deficit in hearing-impaired older adults, could potentially serve as a reliable predictor of speech-in-noise perception in this population.
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