Listening challenges for service members and veterans with traumatic brain injury: The role of sentence context for speech perception in noise

Abstract

Service Members and Veterans (SMVs) with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) often report difficulties understanding speech in noise. This study assessed the impact of TBI history on speech-in-noise recognition and benefit from sentence context. Participants were SMVs (ages 20–62) who had a history of at least an uncomplicated mild TBI (n = 122) or who had no TBI history (n = 58). For each listener, an interleaved, adaptive procedure was used to obtain an overall Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) and a difference in accuracy for high and low context sentences at that threshold. Penalized LASSO regressions revealed larger context benefits for individuals with TBI, poorer high frequency thresholds, poorer executive function, and self- reported tinnitus. Age, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and neurobehavioral symptom severity did not predict context benefit. These results suggest TBI is associated with greater reliance on context in noise, even when accounting for variation in hearing acuity and cognitive function. [This project was funded by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) as part of a Congressionally-Mandated Longitudinal TBI Study. The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of Army/Navy/Air Force, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.]