Evaluation of speech recognition in noisy environments in adults with unilateral and very mild to mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss

The aim of this study was to evaluate the recognition of speech in noise and the effect of existing hearing loss on quality of life in adults with unilateral and very mild to mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. A total of 60 individuals (28 females, 32 males) aged 19-55 years were included in the study. 20 (9 female, 11 male) with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, 20 (8 female, 12 male) with bilateral very mild to mild sensorineural hearing loss (10 bilateral very mild, 10 bilateral mild), 20 (11 female, 9 male) who had normal hearing (control group) were included in our study as a participants. Hearing tests, tymponimetric measurements, Turkish Matrix Test and The Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability Questionnaire were applied to the adults who participated in our study and underwent otoscopic examination. As a result of our study; Adaptive measurements of the Turkish Matrix Test were found to be -7.06 ± 1.47 dB SNR (mean ± SD) in individuals with normal hearing, -5.37 ± 1.16 dB SNR (mean ± SD) in patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, and -5.99 ± 0.89 16 dB SNR (mean ± SD) in patients with very mild to mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. It was found that hearing impaired individuals needed higher SNR to recognize speech in noise than normal hearing individuals. With The Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability Questionnaire, it was observed that in which areas of daily life their disabilities are affected due to hearing loss can be determined. It was found that as the SNR rate needed by adults with hearing loss to recognize speech in the noise increased, according to the result of the Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability Questionnaire hearing impairment increased as well. Key Words: Noise recognition, sensorineural hearing loss, Turkish matrix test