Variability of most comfortable and uncomfortable loudness levels to speech stimuli in the hearing impaired. 1989

C A Sammeth, and M Birman, and K E Hecox
Division of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.

Methods for determining hearing aid settings often incorporate measurements of most comfortable loudness (MCL) and uncomfortable loudness (UCL) levels. This study examined the variability of loudness measures and their correlation to threshold data, using speech stimuli presented to hearing-impaired subjects. MCLs, UCLs, speech reception, and speech detection thresholds were obtained from 50 subjects having sensorineural impairments. The stimuli were CID W-2 spondees spoken by three female clinicians. Three MCLs and UCLs were obtained within each session, using ascending runs and a closed-set response list. Fifteen subjects were retested twice over intervals ranging from a week to several months. Between-session variability for the loudness measurements was less than or equal to 10 dB across sessions and speakers for the majority of subjects, with a tendency for the MCL and UCL to increase slightly over time. Significant variability was attributed to the use of live-voice presentation by different clinicians. High positive correlation was found between threshold and loudness data for subjects with relatively flat audiometric configurations but not for subjects demonstrating sharply sloping hearing losses.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008144 Loudness Perception The perceived attribute of a sound which corresponds to the physical attribute of intensity. Loudness Perceptions,Perception, Loudness,Perceptions, Loudness
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D006310 Hearing Aids Wearable sound-amplifying devices that are intended to compensate for impaired hearing. These generic devices include air-conduction hearing aids and bone-conduction hearing aids. (UMDNS, 1999) Ear Molds, Hearing Aid,Aid, Hearing,Aids, Hearing,Hearing Aid
D006319 Hearing Loss, Sensorineural Hearing loss resulting from damage to the COCHLEA and the sensorineural elements which lie internally beyond the oval and round windows. These elements include the AUDITORY NERVE and its connections in the BRAINSTEM. Deafness Neurosensory,Deafness, Neurosensory,Deafness, Sensoryneural,Neurosensory Deafness,Sensorineural Hearing Loss,Sensoryneural Deafness,Cochlear Hearing Loss,Hearing Loss, Cochlear,Deafnesses, Neurosensory,Deafnesses, Sensoryneural,Neurosensory Deafnesses,Sensoryneural Deafness,Sensoryneural Deafnesses
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D001309 Auditory Threshold The audibility limit of discriminating sound intensity and pitch. Auditory Thresholds,Threshold, Auditory,Thresholds, Auditory
D013067 Speech Perception The process whereby an utterance is decoded into a representation in terms of linguistic units (sequences of phonetic segments which combine to form lexical and grammatical morphemes). Speech Discrimination,Discrimination, Speech,Perception, Speech

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