Hearing threshold levels and speech recognition in noise in 7-year-olds

Abstract

International standards define normal hearing threshold levels (HTLs) and many studies describe speech recognition in noise (SRN) for adults. Less has been published on these characteristics for children. This study aims to establish ranges of HTLs and SRN for otologically normal 7-year-olds. Air conduction HTLs were measured in 189 7-year-olds within an audiometric booth. Speech recognition was measured adaptively for BKB sentences in noise presented binaurally through headphones, determining the speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to score 71% correct. The mean HTLs of otologically normal 7-year-olds were significantly lower (better) than those published for young adults at 1 and 2 kHz. Speech recognition in noise was unrelated to HTLs and was higher (worse) for 7-year-olds (SNR = -4 dB) than has been found for young otologically normal adults (SNR = -6 dB). It is concluded that although the HTLs of 7-year-old children are generally better than those of young adults, their speech recognition in noise is worse. This confirms that their ability to recognise speech in noise is not fully developed at this age.

Pure-tone auditory threshold in school children

“…The ability of 7-year-old children to recognize speech in noise (SNR circa -4 dB) is significantly worse than in adults (SNR circa -7 dB) and their linguistic competence is lower than in adults [2].…”

Establishment of Age-Specific Normative Data for the Canadian French Version of the Hearing in Noise Test for Children

“…Although consensus has not been reached with regards to the underlying processes, improvements in speech recognition performance with age have been reported repeatedly in the literature, using various speech stimuli (monosyllabic words, spondees, words, sentences, stories) (e.g., Blandy & Lutman, 2005;Cameron, et al, 2006b;Eisenberg, et al, 2000Eisenberg, et al, , 2002Hnath-Chisolm, et al, 1998;Johnson, 2000;Lebel & Picard, 1997;Picard & Bradley, 2001;Stelmachowicz, et al, 2000;Stuart, 2005). Studies comparing the performance of children across various age groups have demonstrated that younger children (5 and 6 yrs old) have greater difficulty in recognizing words (monosyllables, spondees, trochee, and trisyllabic words) presented at a given SNR than older children (Jamieson, et al, 2004) and require on average a 7 dB increase in SNR to reach performance levels similar to those obtained by older children during monosyllabic and disyllabic word identification tasks (Bradley & Sato, 2004;Picard & Bradley, 2001).…”

“…Using the Bamford-Kowal-Bench sentences (Bench, et al, 1979) presented dichotically under headphones in a speech-shaped noise, Blandy and Lutman (2005) found that despite having hearing threshold levels better than or equal to those of young adults, 7-yr olds generally have a significantly poorer ability to recognize speech in noise. A 3 dB difference in SNR was found between the mean performances of young adults and 7-yr-old children to recognize 70% of the sentences presented.…”

The Galker test of speech reception in noise; associations with background variables, middle ear status, hearing, and language in Danish preschool children

“…The more linguistic information is incorporated together with features like background noise and lip reading, the less predictable the test results from the pure-tone audiogram [21][22][23][24]. Blandy & Lutman found no relation between hearing threshold levels and speech recognition in noise in 7-year-olds [25]. In our study, it was difficult to obtain valid hearing tests for all children.…”