The South African English Smartphone Digits-in-Noise Hearing Test: Effect of Age, Hearing Loss, and Speaking Competence

Jenni-Mari Potgieter, De Wet Swanepoel, Hermanus Carel Myburgh, Cas Smits

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: This study determined the effect of hearing loss and English-speaking competency on the South African English digits-in-noise hearing test to evaluate its suitability for use across native (N) and non-native (NN) speakers.

Design: A prospective cross-sectional cohort study of N and NN English adults with and without sensorineural hearing loss compared puretone air conduction thresholds to the speech reception threshold (SRT) recorded with the smartphone digits-in-noise hearing test. A rating scale was used for NN English listeners' self-reported competence in speaking English. This study consisted of 454 adult listeners (164 male, 290 female; range 16 to 90 years), of whom 337 listeners had a best ear four-frequency pure-tone average (4FPTA; 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) of

Results: A linear regression model identified three predictors of the digits-in-noise SRT, namely, 4FPTA, age, and self-reported English-speaking competence. The NN group with poor self-reported English-speaking competence (

Conclusions: Self-reported English-speaking competence had a significant influence on the SRT obtained with the smartphone digits-innoise test. A logistic regression approach considering SRT, self-reported English-speaking competence, and age as predictors of best ear 4FPTA >25 dB HL showed that the test can be used as an accurate hearing screening tool for N and NN English speakers. The smartphone digitsin-noise test, therefore, allows testing in a multilingual population familiar with English digits using dynamic cutoff values that can be chosen according to self-reported English-speaking competence and age.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)656-663
Number of pages8
JournalEar and Hearing
Volume39
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

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