Spraakverstaan in ruis bij kinderen van 6-12 jaar

Abstract

Listening in noise is a complex task for all listeners. Speechperception-in-noise is a standard component of the audiologic test battery for adults. In children speech-in-noise perception abilities are more limited than in adults. For Dutch-speaking children there is normative data for Words-in-Noise (WIN) and for Digits-in-Noise (DIN) when using headphones. In assessing speech-in-noise perception in children using hearing aids, headphones cannot be used. Stimuli can only be presented in a free field condition. There are however no normative data for free field measurements with children, so currently these tests cannot be used clinically in assessing children who use hearing aids. The aim of this study was to examine if normative data for speech-in-noise using headphones with bilateral stimulation can be used in free field conditions. For two speech-in noise tests (WIN and DIN), scores from 29 children (age range: 6-12 years) with normal hearing were compared. This comparison regards presentation under two conditions: headphones and free field. For the WIN, free field was tested at 0 dB SNR, the condition with headphones at -2 dB SNR. A number recall test was done to see if the results are correlated with the results for the DIN. For the DIN there was no significant difference between the scores in free field condition compared to the scores with headphones. For the WIN a direct comparison of the two conditions was not possible because of the different signal to noise ratios. Correlation with number recall was inconclusive. Normative data for the DIN using headphones with bilateral stimulation can be used in free field conditions. Both the DIN and the WIN 0 dB SNR can be used in free field condition assessing speech-in-noise performance in children.