Learning Effect Impacts Quick Speech-in-Noise Test Reliability
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Mentor Information
Dr. Jungmee Lee
Description
The Quick Speech-in-Noise (QuickSIN) test is a prevalent Speech-in-Noise test for clinical and research settings, and provides information that other hearing tests do not (Portnuff & Bell, 2019). Typically, two consecutive QuickSIN tests are given to patients without any practice in clinic and the final score is the average of two. Thus, patients might improve their performance on the second test after the first, resulting in a final test score with large variance. The purpose of the current study is to examine the learning effect and its impact on the reliability of QuickSIN test scores. 100 listeners (18-76 years old; 30 males and 70 females) were recruited via flyer around USF campus. Listeners listened to one list of six sentences containing five target words with multi-talker babble in the background, then were asked to repeat as much of the sentence they understood. The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) decreased in 5 dB increments after each sentence from 25 dB (easier) to 0 dB (harder). Listeners began with one of three ear conditions (right ear, left ear, or binaural) and completed this task twice with a different list of sentences. The difference in scores between two lists for each ear condition was calculated. Mean data showed the most improvement in the initial ear condition. Individual data showed large individual differences in improvement. Results demonstrate a potential learning effect after the first test. This could impact the reliability of QuickSIN test results which might lead to misdiagnosis in clinic.
Learning Effect Impacts Quick Speech-in-Noise Test Reliability
The Quick Speech-in-Noise (QuickSIN) test is a prevalent Speech-in-Noise test for clinical and research settings, and provides information that other hearing tests do not (Portnuff & Bell, 2019). Typically, two consecutive QuickSIN tests are given to patients without any practice in clinic and the final score is the average of two. Thus, patients might improve their performance on the second test after the first, resulting in a final test score with large variance. The purpose of the current study is to examine the learning effect and its impact on the reliability of QuickSIN test scores. 100 listeners (18-76 years old; 30 males and 70 females) were recruited via flyer around USF campus. Listeners listened to one list of six sentences containing five target words with multi-talker babble in the background, then were asked to repeat as much of the sentence they understood. The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) decreased in 5 dB increments after each sentence from 25 dB (easier) to 0 dB (harder). Listeners began with one of three ear conditions (right ear, left ear, or binaural) and completed this task twice with a different list of sentences. The difference in scores between two lists for each ear condition was calculated. Mean data showed the most improvement in the initial ear condition. Individual data showed large individual differences in improvement. Results demonstrate a potential learning effect after the first test. This could impact the reliability of QuickSIN test results which might lead to misdiagnosis in clinic.
