Toward an Extended Classification of Noise-Distortion Preferences by Modeling Longitudinal Dynamics of Listening Choices.
Giulia Angonese, Mareike Buhl, Jonathan A Gößwein and 2 others
PMID 40771099WHAT IT FOUND
Listening preferences for noise reduction fluctuate daily, not just between people.
A mobile app can track these shifts. Most patients prefer a middle ground rather than being strict 'noise' or 'distortion' haters. Single-point assessments may miss this variability.
Key findings
01Preferences for noise reduction strength are not stable traits; they fluctuate significantly over time.
02Most individuals fall into an intermediate preference category, rather than being extreme 'noise haters' or 'distortion haters'.
03A mobile web-based task can effectively measure these preferences, with the adaptive trade-off condition showing better consistency than the general trade-off.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Participants did not use hearing aids; they listened to synthetic sounds on personal smartphones, which may not reflect real-world hearing aid use. The sample consisted of older adults with self-reported hearing difficulties, but most had good hearing performance on the digit test, limiting generalizability to those with significant hearing loss. The study did not control for the type of headphones or smartphone used, which could affect audio quality. The classification of 'noise' and 'distortion' haters was based on small subgroups, making the extreme categories less robust. The study was observational and did not test whether adjusting hearing aids based on these mobile preferences improves patient satisfaction or outcomes.
Declared interests
Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). No commercial conflicts of interest reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this study validates using a mobile app to fine-tune hearing aids in clinic. The participants did not use hearing aids, and the study did not test whether this approach improves patient outcomes. It describes how preferences vary, not how to fix them.