Measuring the Influence of Noise Reduction on Listening Effort in Hearing-Impaired Listeners Using Response Times to an Arithmetic Task in Noise.
Ilja Reinten, Inge De Ronde-Brons, Rolph Houben and 1 others
PMID 34027725WHAT IT FOUND
Noise reduction algorithms did not significantly speed up response times for hearing-impaired listeners in this small study.
While a theoretical 'ideal' algorithm helped in very noisy conditions, realistic algorithms showed no benefit over unprocessed sound. The task remains a research tool, not a clinical test.
Key findings
01Realistic noise reduction algorithms (MMSE) did not significantly reduce response times compared to unprocessed sound, even when speech was fully intelligible.
02Only the ideal binary mask (IBM), which requires prior knowledge of the noise and cannot be implemented in hearing aids, significantly shortened response times in the noisiest condition (-5 dB SNR).
03The arithmetic response-time task showed poor reliability for individual patients, making it suitable only for group research rather than clinical assessment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 12 participants, limiting the generalizability of the results. The individual reliability of the response-time measure was low, meaning it cannot be used to diagnose or assess a single patient's listening effort. The comparison between the IBM and MMSE algorithms is confounded by the fact that IBM is a theoretical model that cannot be implemented in real hearing aids, while MMSE is realistic but imperfect.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Heinsius-Houbolt foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that noise reduction in hearing aids will reduce listening effort for all patients. This study found that realistic noise reduction algorithms did not speed up response times in conditions where speech was already intelligible, suggesting that the benefit of noise reduction may not extend to cognitive effort in everyday listening situations.