Sensitivity of the antiphasic digits-in-noise test to simulated unilateral and bilateral conductive hearing loss

Polspoel, Sigrid; Moore, David R.; Swanepoel, De Wet; Kramer, Sophia E.; Smits, Cas

doi:10.1080/14992027.2022.2119611

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Previous studies in other languages have reported that the DIN test could be independent of sound level above a minimum level of 60 dB SPL [ 33 ]. In contrast, when bilateral or unilateral HI listeners are included, the presentation level of stimuli influenced the DIN test result [ 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing the Korean Version of the Digit-in-Noise Test

et al. 2023

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Background and Objectives:The digits-in-noise (DIN) test was developed as a simple and time-efficient hearing-in-noise test worldwide. The Korean version of the DIN (K-DIN) test was previously validated for both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the outcomes of the K-DIN test further by analyzing the threshold (representing detection ability) and slope (representing test difficulty) parameters for the psychometric curve fit. Subjects and Methods: In total, 35 young adults with normal hearing participated in the K-DIN test under the following four experimental conditions: 1) background noise (digit-shaped vs. pink noise); 2) gender of the speaker (male vs. female); 3) ear side (right vs. left); and 4) digit presentation levels (55, 65, 75, and 85 dB). The digits were presented using the method of constant stimuli procedure. Participant responses to the stimulus trials were used to fit a psychometric function, and the threshold and slope parameters were estimated according to pre-determined criteria. The accuracy of fit performance was determined using the root-mean-square error calculation. Results: The listener's digit detection ability (threshold) was slightly better with pink noise than with digit-shaped noise, with similar test difficulties (slopes) across the digits. Gender and the tested ear side influenced neither the detection ability nor the task difficulty. Additionally, lower presentation levels (55 and 65 dB) elicited better thresholds than the higher presentation levels (75 and 85 dB); however, the test difficulty varied slightly across the presentation levels. Conclusions: The K-DIN test can be influenced by stimulus factors. Continued research is warranted to understand the accuracy and reliability of the test better, especially for its use as a promising clinical measure.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing the Korean Version of the Digit-in-Noise Test

et al. 2023

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“…Since 2021, the Acapela Group (Solna, Sweden) offers a Cloud Service with modified speech synthesis, which was also preselected. Although Google Wavenet (Dublin, Ireland) does not guarantee the stability of the voices, it was preselected because of its application for synthesized digits in the digit-in-noise test (Polspoel et al, 2020). Table 1 gives an overview of the three preselected TTS systems, which differ in their signal-generation processes and costs.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speech Recognition and Listening Effort of Meaningful Sentences Using Synthetic Speech

2022

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Speech-recognition tests are an important component of audiology. However, the development of such tests can be time consuming. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a Text-To-Speech (TTS) system can reduce the cost of development, and whether comparable results can be achieved in terms of speech recognition and listening effort. For this, the everyday sentences of the German Göttingen sentence test were synthesized for both a female and a male speaker using a TTS system. In a preliminary study, this system was rated as good, but worse than the natural reference. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the measurements took place online. Each set of speech material was presented at three fixed signal-to-noise ratios. The participants’ responses were recorded and analyzed offline. Compared to the natural speech, the adjusted psychometric functions for the synthetic speech, independent of the speaker, resulted in an improvement of the speech-recognition threshold (SRT) by approximately 1.2 dB. The slopes, which were independent of the speaker, were about 15 percentage points per dB. The time periods between the end of the stimulus presentation and the beginning of the verbal response (verbal response time) were comparable for all speakers, suggesting no difference in listening effort. The SRT values obtained in the online measurement for the natural speech were comparable to published data. In summary, the time and effort for the development of speech-recognition tests may be significantly reduced by using a TTS system. This finding provides the opportunity to develop new speech tests with a large amount of speech material.

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