The clinical use of Arthur Boothroyd (AB) word lists in Australia: exploring evidence-based practice.

OBJECTIVE: Limited empirical investigation exists validating the use of Arthur Boothroyd (AB) word recognition materials within the Australian clinical context. The current research was undertaken to examine the evidence base and clinical implementation/interpretation of AB words in Australia. DESIGN: An on-line 22-question survey was e-mailed to members of the peak audiology professional body in Australia. STUDY SAMPLE: Three hundred and twelve responses were recorded between April and June 2015 from audiologists of a range of ages, working in various clinical settings. RESULTS: The survey results suggested audiologists use AB words on a wide range of clients from children <5 to adults ≥80 years, for diverse purposes including diagnosis of retrocochlear pathology, candidacy and validation of rehabilitative options, and client counselling. A majority of respondents reported typically administering one or two word lists per ear, and over 99% of audiologists utilised phonemic scoring. There was no consensus regarding what constitutes a significant difference between any two given scores. CONCLUSIONS: Wide variation exists in the administration and interpretation of AB words in Australia. There appears to be a mismatch between clinical utilisation of AB words and existing evidence-based empirical data. Further research is required to improve evidence-based audiologist training, and thereby current clinical use of AB words.

The need for and development of an adaptive Listening and Communication Enhancement (LACE) Program.

Auditory training has long been advocated to enhance communication but has never been time or cost-effective. This article describes the concepts underlying the development of a home-based, interactive adaptive computer program designed to engage the adult hearing-impaired listener in the hearing-aid-fitting process, provide listening strategies, build confidence, and address cognitive changes characteristic of the aging process. An investigation using a between-group, within-subject design with pre- and post-test objective and subjective measures was conducted at five clinical sites. Sixty-five subjects were randomly placed into two groups, one receiving LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) immediately following baseline testing and one serving as a control for one month and then receiving training as a crossover group. Results showed statistically significant improvements for the trained subjects on all but one of the outcome measures. Barriers facing the widespread implementation of home-based aural rehabilitation are discussed.

Band importance functions for audiological applications.

Recently, band importance functions have been developed for a number of speech tests used in audiology. These functions, as well as the importance functions for average (everyday) speech, are also being considered for the inclusion in the revised Articulation Index standard (submitted for vote to the Acoustical Society of America). In this paper, the band importance functions for different speech materials (usually reported in literature for 1/3 octave bands) have been recalculated to correspond to frequency bands normally used in audiological applications. In addition, criteria for selecting appropriate importance functions and transfer functions are discussed.