Enhanced Objective Measures for Evaluating Longitudinal Changes in Within-Subject Listening Difficulty
Abstract
Service members (SMs) often report experiencing hearing difficulties that far exceed what would be expected based on standard clinical auditory evaluations. The goal of this proposal is to develop better measures of speech-in-noise performance and listening effort that are reliably sensitive to the often subtle hearing difficulties that our SMs report. This will be especially important in future work that aims to track the benefits that are expected from a hearing restoration intervention. Aim 1 will develop a speech-in-noise test for a portable tablet or smartphone that can collect performance and response time data across multiple at-home sessions. Aim 2 will evaluate using a physiological measure (pupil dilation) to measure differences in listening effort between patients with hearing difficulties and controls. Aim3 will investigate the use of commercially-available head-mounted displays (HMDs) that can measure pupillometry as a platform for implementing the take-home hearing tests developed under Aim 1. Participants will be SMs with hearing difficulties that exceed what would be predicted based on their hearing thresholds or healthy control participants. Some participants will perform the listening tests while using real or simulated low-gain hearing aids. Tests will include standard or modified clinical tests of speech-in-noise and other auditory abilities. Measures of interest will be changes in performance and reaction time within and across testing sessions, as well as pupillometry indicators of listening effort and fatigue/alertness. We intend for the results of this work to inform counseling, clinical decisions, and validation of treatments so that patients are provided the best hearing possible and to ensure Warfighter readiness for duty.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1223416
Entities
People
- Douglas S. Brungart
- Stefanie E. Kuchinsky
Organizations
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine