New hearing test shows reliable results in real urban noise
Researchers have validated a hearing assessment tool that works in actual city environments rather than soundproof labs, showing consistent results across repeat tests. The finding matters for audiologists and hearing aid manufacturers seeking clinically proven tests that reflect how people actually experience hearing loss in daily life.
Originaltitel: Test-retest reliability of the urban outdoor situated phoneme (SiP) test
<p>Objective:</p><p>To introduce the urban outdoor version of the Situated Phoneme (SiP) test and investigate its test-retest reliability.</p><p>Design:</p><p>Phonemic discrimination scores in matched-spectrum real-world (MSRW) maskers from an urban outdoor environment were measured using a three-alternative forced choice test paradigm at different phoneme-to-noise ratios (PNR). Each measurement was repeated twice. Test-retest scores for the full 84-trial SiP-test, as well as for four types of contrasting phonemes, were analysed and compared to critical difference scores based on binomial confidence intervals.</p><p>Study sample:</p><p>Seventy-two adult native speakers of Swedish (26-83 years) with symmetric hearing threshold levels ranging from normal hearing to severe sensorineural hearing loss.</p><p>Results:</p><p>Test-retest scores did not differ significantly for the whole test, or for the subtests analysed. A lower amount of test-retest score difference than expected exceeded the bounds of the corresponding critical difference intervals.</p><p>Conclusions:</p><p>The urban outdoor SiP-test has high test-retest reliability. This information can help audiologists to interpret test scores attained with the urban outdoor SiP-test.</p>