Effects of PSAPs on Speech Processing

Hearing Loss, Age-Related Clinical Trial

Official title: Immediate Effects of Personal Sound Amplification Products on Speech Processing

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Mild to moderate hearing loss remains undertreated, largely because of the high cost of hearing aids. A promising and much less expensive alternative is the use of personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), which are electronic, portable, over-the-counter devices that amplify sound. Studies have shown that the use of PSAPs provides significant hearing benefits and improves the quality of life for older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. However, there is insufficient data to determine the impact of PSAPs use on speech processing in the brain.

The purpose of this study is to use electroencephalography (EEG) measurements to assess the neurobiological and behavioral effects of PSAPs on speech perception in noise in individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss.

The investigators expect that the PSAPs use will result in an immediate improvement in the ability to perceive speech-in-noise, supporting that these hearing devices may be a means of restoring communication skills in people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Behavioral benefits will be associated with increased brain activity in auditory regions and connectivity between auditory and speech regions in the brain.

Clinical Trial Description

This study will consist of two sessions of 3 hours each. On one session, participants will perform the speech-in-noise task without hearing devices and on the other session, participants will perform the speech-in-noise task while wearing personal sound amplification products. The order of the sessions will be counterbalanced across participants. The speech-in-noise task consists in a word discrimination task in babble noise at three signal-to-noise ratios. On each trial, the task is to determine whether two words are identical or different. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Deafness
• Hearing Loss
• Hearing Loss, Age-Related
• Presbycusis

• NCT number: NCT05076045
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 1, 2022
• Completion date: October 1, 2022