Deficits in auditory sensory discrimination among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Research into children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has focused on complex cognitive dysfunction, but less attention has been paid to sensory perception processes underlying the symptoms of ADHD. Based on signal detection theory, the present study compared the sensory discrimination ability and decision bias of children with and without ADHD. It also investigated the differences between ADHD with predominantly inattentive (ADHDi) and combined presentations (ADHDc). The sample of 75 children and adolescents with ADHD (24 ADHDi, 51 ADHDc) (16 females and 59 males) and 22 typical developing controls (TD) (8 females and 14 males) completed an auditory signal detection task. Participants were asked to detect signals against levels of transient background noise (35, 45, 55, and 65 dB). The results showed that with the increase of noise levels, both the ADHD and TD groups demonstrated decreased sensory discrimination. Although both groups successfully detected signal against noise levels from 35 to 55 dB, the ADHD group showed lower discrimination ability than that of the TD group. For decision bias, no group difference was found. Further comparisons regarding the predominant symptom presentation of ADHD sub-groups showed no differences. Current research has suggested that the deficit in ADHD people's signal detection performance can be attributed to sensory discrimination rather than decision bias. We suggest that background noise should be taken into account when using auditory stimuli to investigate cognitive functions in people with ADHD.

Compensated active noise cancellation earphone for audiometric screening tests in noisy environments.

Objective: This study investigated hearing screening tests by using a custom-designed compensated hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) earphone and compared it with TDH39 and Audiocups audiometric earphones under conditions of quiet, 45 dB HL masking narrowband, wideband speech-shaped, and white noise. Design: The hearing screening tests were conducted to characterise the shifts of screening results under noisy conditions, and real-ear attenuations at thresholds were assessed to quantify real-ear noise reduction performance. Study sample: Twenty-four normal-hearing adults, aged 20-25 years, participated in this study. Results: The ANC earphone exhibited significantly lower/better mean screening results than those of the TDH39 earphone at 250 and 500 Hz and those of the Audiocups earphone at 250 Hz under conditions of narrowband, speech-shaped, and white noise. Compared with the TDH39 earphone at 250 and 500 Hz, applying a hybrid ANC earphone reduced the shifts in screening results by 14.2 and 12.3 dB, respectively, under the narrowband noise condition. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the compensated hybrid ANC earphone provided lower shifts of screening results than the TDH39 and Audiocups earphones and that it was capable of screening at 250 and 500 Hz from 20 dB HL under 45 dB HL masking narrowband and wideband noise.

Validation of a Bluetooth Self-Fitting Device for People With Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss in Quiet or Noisy Environments.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the benefits of a Bluetooth self-fitting device using an in situ hearing screening test and self-fitting processes. METHOD: Thirty Mandarin-speaking individuals (16 men and 14 women) with mild-to-moderate hearing loss participated in this study. The hearing screening test was conducted using neckband earphones of a Bluetooth self-fitting device controlled by a smartphone app. The hearing screening tests were compared with the pure-tone audiometry in an audiometric booth. The amplification benefits of the self-fitting program-aided condition were evaluated and compared with those of unaided and preset program-aided conditions using the Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test (MHINT) and questionnaires. RESULTS: The pure-tone audiometry and hearing screening test results exhibited strong positive correlations at all test frequencies. In the environment with 90° noise, the sentence reception thresholds (SRTs) obtained for the self-fitting program-aided condition were significantly lower (p = .032) than those obtained for the unaided condition, whereas no significant difference was observed between the preset program-aided and the unaided conditions. Moreover, the participants' satisfaction ratings for the devices were consistent with their MHINT results, with a strong positive correlation observed between satisfaction with self-fitting and user satisfaction in smartphone app's control, functionality, and learning. Younger participants were significantly more satisfied in learning to use the app. CONCLUSIONS: Bluetooth self-fitting devices can be used for simplified in situ hearing screenings with a sensitivity of 90.4%. The satisfaction ratings and improvements in SRTs indicate significant clinical benefits of the self-fitting program compared with the preset program, particularly in the 90°-noise environments.

Benefits of Compression Amplification in Telephone Bluetooth-Assistive Listening Devices for People with Hearing Loss.

BACKGROUND: Telephone conversation is one of the main scenarios where people with hearing loss require assistive listening devices (ALDs). Such people experience the greatest degree of difficulty during phone conversations in noisy environments. PURPOSE: This study compared the benefits of a linear scheme with a compression amplification scheme fitted with a prescription for sloping-type hearing loss implemented in a Bluetooth ALD in quiet and noisy environments. RESEARCH DESIGN: Word recognition scores (WRSs) for the Mandarin monosyllable recognition test (MMRT) and participants' satisfaction ratings were measured to serve as objective and subjective results, respectively. STUDY SAMPLE: Twelve native Mandarin speakers aged 27-68 yr with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. INTERVENTION: A compression amplification scheme with a prescription in maximizing speech intelligibility for sloping-type hearing loss was implemented in a Bluetooth ALD. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: The MMRT WRSs of participants wearing the Bluetooth ALD were collected. Each test was conducted in a soundproof booth under quiet and 65-dBA speech noise environments. Each participant completed a satisfaction questionnaire administered by an audiologist. The collected WRSs were examined using analyses of variance and the satisfaction ratings were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank tests. RESULTS: The mean MMRT WRSs of the compression amplification scheme were significantly higher than those of the linear scheme (57% and 53% higher in quiet and noisy environments, respectively). The mean satisfaction ratings of both schemes were between neutral and satisfied in the quiet environment, whereas in the noisy environment, the participants were more satisfied with the compression scheme than the linear scheme. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the effective benefits of the compression amplification scheme fitted with a prescription in maximizing speech intelligibility for sloping-type hearing loss implemented in a Bluetooth ALD for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

Benefits of incorporating the adaptive dynamic range optimization amplification scheme into an assistive listening device for people with mild or moderate hearing loss.

This study investigated whether a self-designed assistive listening device (ALD) that incorporates an adaptive dynamic range optimization (ADRO) amplification strategy can surpass a commercially available monaurally worn linear ALD, SM100. Both subjective and objective measurements were implemented. Mandarin Hearing-In-Noise Test (MHINT) scores were the objective measurement, whereas participant satisfaction was the subjective measurement. The comparison was performed in a mixed design (i.e., subjects' hearing status being mild or moderate, quiet versus noisy, and linear versus ADRO scheme). The participants were two groups of hearing-impaired subjects, nine mild and eight moderate, respectively. The results of the ADRO system revealed a significant difference in the MHINT sentence reception threshold (SRT) in noisy environments between monaurally aided and unaided conditions, whereas the linear system did not. The benchmark results showed that the ADRO scheme is effectively beneficial to people who experience mild or moderate hearing loss in noisy environments. The satisfaction rating regarding overall speech quality indicated that the participants were satisfied with the speech quality of both ADRO and linear schemes in quiet environments, and they were more satisfied with ADRO than they with the linear scheme in noisy environments.