Conference_programme: 5: Audiology

Lecture: Speech intelligibility in noise: evaluation of children with Cochlear Implant using Italian Matrix Sentence Test.

Author(s): Gheller Flavia, Lovo Elisa, Bovo Roberto

Summary:
The issue of speech intelligibility in the patients with cochlear implant (CI) is of particular interest, especially in relation to the listening in a noisy environment. \nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the speech reception threshold (SRT) of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children, and to analyse the possible relationship between hearing loss and SRT in a fixed noise condition, using Italian Matrix Sentence Test.\nThis test allows to analyse speech perception performance in a real life situation, such as the school environment. It can be used to assess the benefit of children with CI from their device in everyday sound environment.\nThe study sample consisted of two different groups of children: twenty CI users and twenty normal hearing (NH) children.\nNH children: mean age = 9,1 ± 1,7 years; pure tone auditory thresholds lower than 15 dB at all frequencies.\nCI users: mean age = 10 ± 2,1 years; mean age at CI surgery: 2,5 ± 1,3 years; Pure Tone Average (PTA) mean value: 25 ± 4,9 dB. \nSpeech Recognition Threshold (SRT) value was obtained in free field and in a fixed noise condition (noise level: 65 dB), using a standard adaptive measurement, converging to 50% speech intelligibility. It is the lowest signal/noise ratio at which speech can be understood 50% of the time.\nNH children: SRT (mean value) = -4,7 ± 2,7 dB\nCI users: SRT = 1,6 ± 2,1 dB\nSRT values were higher in patients than in controls. CI users have greater difficulty in listening in a noisy environment. However, despite this, the early time of implant and the use of the device make it possible to improve considerably the audiological outcomes.\nOur results demonstrated that Matrix test can be a reliable clinical test to be used in assessment of speech perception in noisy conditions.\n

Corresponding author

Name: Dr Flavia Gheller

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Country: Italy