A Comparison of American Speech-Language Hearing Association Guidelines for Obtaining Speech-Recognition Thresholds

Abstract

This study compared two approaches for measuring speech-recognition thresholds (SRTs): the ASHA (1979) and ASHA (1988) guidelines. The subjects were 30 veterans with impaired hearing. Contrary to prior reports, the ASHA (1979) approach was found to be slightly less time consuming than the ASHA (1988) approach. The ASHA (1979) approach also yielded slightly better pure tone average (€'"A)-SRT agreement than the ASHA (1988) approach for two of three generally accepted measures for comparing these tests; the third measure yielded equivalent results. Although statistically significant, the differences between these guidelines in test time and PTA-SRT agreement were small and are considered to be clinically insignificant.

Word Recognition in Multitalker Babble Measured with Two Psychophysical Methods

“…Third, Chaiklin et al (1967) advocated an ascending approach for use with patients having suspected pseudohypacusis. Jahner et al (1994) compared thresholds for spondaic words using ascending and descending protocols. As with the pure-tone protocols described earlier, the thresholds for the descending protocol (25.7 dB HL) were lower than thresholds for the ascending protocol (29.0 dB HL).…”

Effective Identification of Functional Hearing Loss Using Behavioral Threshold Measures

“…Speech thresholds were measured using an ascending approach, as described in a former ASHA (1979) guideline. This procedure is more effective in identifying persons feigning a hearing loss than the one in the guideline that replaced it (ASHA, 1988;Jahner, Schlauch, & Doyle, 1994;Schlauch et al, 1996). The starting level for each speech threshold search was -10 dB HL.…”

“…Another issue is the time required to administer both tests. We did not keep a record of the test times, but Jahner et al (1994) found that instructions for ST testing were completed in an average of 36 s (without familiarization with the list), and the test administration itself required in an average of 1 min 45 s when done manually. The pure-tone screening test needs no further instruction, and the threshold search takes approximately 2 min for all three frequencies.…”

Comparative Study of Microscope Assisted Tympanoplasty and Endoscope Assisted Tympanoplasty

“…Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) was done to assess the degree and type of the hearing loss. The guidelines outlined by the "American speech and hearing association (ASHA)" [4] were used for doing PTA. Air bone(A-B) gap for each ear were noted separately, for frequencies 500 Hz, 1KHz and 2KHz, and the loss in hearing was calculated by taking the average of the three [5] .…”