Effects of Expansion on Consonant Recognition and Consonant Audibility

Overview

Journal J Am Acad Audiol

Publisher Thieme

Specialty Otorhinolaryngology

Date 2009 Nov 26

PMID 19927675

Citations 7

Authors

Marc Brennan

Pamela Souza

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Hearing aid expansion is intended to reduce the gain for low-level noise. However, expansion can also degrade low-intensity speech. Although it has been suggested that the poorer performance with expansion is due to reduced audibility, this has not been measured directly. Furthermore, previous studies used relatively high expansion kneepoints.

Purpose: This study compared the effect of a 30 dB SPL and 50 dB SPL expansion kneepoint on consonant audibility and recognition.

Research Design: Eight consonant-vowel syllables were presented at 50, 60, and 71 dB SPL. Recordings near the tympanic membrane were made of each speech token and used to calculate the Aided Audibility Index (AAI).

Study Sample: Thirteen subjects with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss.

Results: Expansion with a high kneepoint resulted in reduced consonant recognition. The AAI correlated significantly with consonant recognition across all conditions and subjects.

Conclusion: If consonant recognition is the priority, audibility calculations could be used to determine an optimal expansion kneepoint for a given individual.

Citing Articles

Self-Adjustment of Hearing Aid Amplification for Lower Speech Levels: Independent Ratings, Paired Comparisons, and Speech Recognition.

Perry T, Nelson P Am J Audiol. 2022; 31(2):305-321.

PMID: 35316099 PMC: 9524848. DOI: 10.1044/2022_AJA-21-00164.

Audibility and Spectral-Ripple Discrimination Thresholds as Predictors of Word Recognition with Nonlinear Frequency Compression.

Brennan M, McCreery R J Am Acad Audiol. 2022; 32(9):596-605.

PMID: 35176803 PMC: 9112840. DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1732333.

Influence of Audibility and Distortion on Recognition of Reverberant Speech for Children and Adults with Hearing Aid Amplification.

Brennan M, McCreery R, Massey J J Am Acad Audiol. 2021; 33(3):170-180.

PMID: 34695870 PMC: 9112843. DOI: 10.1055/a-1678-3381.

Influence of Instantaneous Compression on Recognition of Speech in Noise with Temporal Dips.

Rasetshwane D, Raybine D, Kopun J, Gorga M, Neely S J Am Acad Audiol. 2018; 30(1):16-30.

PMID: 30461387 PMC: 6251754. DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.16165.

Perceptual Implications of Level- and Frequency-Specific Deviations from Hearing Aid Prescription in Children.

McCreery R, Brennan M, Walker E, Spratford M J Am Acad Audiol. 2017; 28(9):861-875.

PMID: 28972473 PMC: 5665572. DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.17014.

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