Dysarthria, Hearing Loss, Sensorineural
Conditions
Brief summary
Dysarthria and hearing loss are communication disorders that can substantially reduce intelligibility of speech and the addition of background noise adds a further challenge. This proposal utilizes an established signal processing technique, currently exploited for improved understanding of speech in noise for listeners with hearing loss, to investigate its potential application to overcome speech-in-noise difficulties for listeners understanding dysarthric speech. Successful completion of this project will demonstrate proof-of-concept for the application of this signal processing technique to dysarthric speech in noise, and inform the development of an R01 proposal to perform a large-scale evaluation of the technology, and clinically meaningful implications, in a broad range of disordered speech types and severities.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALIdeal binary mask
Speech in noise processed by ideal binary mask to reduce background noise
Sponsors
Utah State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
INCLUSION CRITERIA for All Participants * Native speakers of American English * No history of speech or language impairment * No significant prior contact with persons having neurogenic speech disorders INCLUSION CRITERIA for Participants with Normal Hearing * 18 to 70 years of age * Auditory thresholds of 20 dB HL or better bilaterally at octave frequencies from 250-8000 Hz (if under 55 years of age) * Auditory thresholds of 25 dB HL or better bilaterally at octave frequencies from 250-4000 Hz (if over 55 years of age) INCLUSION CRITERIA for Participants with Sensorineural Hearing Loss * 18 to 90 years of age
Exclusion criteria
*
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Percent Correct Speech Intelligibility | One hour | Percent of keywords correctly identified by the participant for the processed speech stimuli, listeners were presented with phrases containing several words and they reported back what they heard. The number of words corrected reported by each listener was counted and converted to a 'percent correct' score. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Normal Hearing Listeners with normal hearing
Ideal binary mask: Speech in noise processed by ideal binary mask to reduce background noise | 422 |
| Hearing Impaired Listeners with hearing loss
Ideal binary mask: Speech in noise processed by ideal binary mask to reduce background noise | 13 |
| Total | 435 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Normal Hearing | Hearing Impaired | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 12 Participants | 9 Participants | 21 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 410 Participants | 4 Participants | 414 Participants |
| Age, Continuous | 35 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 12 | 69 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 26 | 52 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 19 |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 31 Participants | 0 Participants | 31 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 391 Participants | 13 Participants | 404 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 4 Participants | 0 Participants | 4 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 31 Participants | 0 Participants | 31 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 19 Participants | 0 Participants | 19 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 5 Participants | 0 Participants | 5 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 363 Participants | 13 Participants | 376 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 422 participants | 13 participants | 435 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 204 Participants | 7 Participants | 211 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 218 Participants | 6 Participants | 224 Participants |
| Speech intelligibility +5 dB SNR | 40 percentage of words correct STANDARD_DEVIATION 5 | 24 percentage of words correct STANDARD_DEVIATION 16 | 32.5 percentage of words correct STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.5 |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 422 | 0 / 13 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 422 | 0 / 13 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 422 | 0 / 13 |
Outcome results
Primary
Percent Correct Speech Intelligibility
Percent of keywords correctly identified by the participant for the processed speech stimuli, listeners were presented with phrases containing several words and they reported back what they heard. The number of words corrected reported by each listener was counted and converted to a 'percent correct' score.
Time frame: One hour
Population: Listeners with normal hearing and listeners with hearing loss
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal Hearing | Percent Correct Speech Intelligibility | 69 percentage of words correctly reported | Standard Error 1.06 |
| Hearing Impaired | Percent Correct Speech Intelligibility | 63 percentage of words correctly reported | Standard Error 2.2 |