Hearing Aids Can Reduce Listening Effort in School-Age Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Steven P Gianakas; Kathryn B Wiseman; Elizabeth A Walker

doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000001802

For children who are hard of hearing, listening to speech can be effortful, especially in noisy classroom environments. While hearing aids provide improved access to sound, it is still unclear if hearing aids also help to reduce listening-related effort. The present study tested the hypothesis that hearing aids can reduce listening effort when children who are hard of hearing listen to sentences in quiet or in noise. Thirty-three school-age children who are hard of hearing (mean age = 10.11 years, range = 8.25 to 11.92 years) who used hearing aids participated in a dual-task paradigm. In the primary task, each child listened to and repeated back sentences that were presented in speech-shaped noise or in quiet with and without their hearing aids. Concurrently, participants responded on a keyboard to a simple visual reaction time task. Dual-task cost was calculated as the percentage change in response time on the secondary task performed in isolation compared with when the secondary task was performed concurrently with the primary task. In addition, children provided subjective feedback about their effort exerted during the experiment. Dual-task costs were lower in the aided condition compared with the unaided condition when listening in noise, but did not differ when listening in quiet. In quiet, children reported lower ratings of listening effort in the aided condition compared with the unaided condition. In noise, children's subjective ratings of effort did not differ between unaided and aided conditions. Correlational analyses between behavioral and subjective measures of listening effort revealed absent to weak relationships. However, correlations between subjective effort and primary task performance were moderate in noise and in quiet when children did not use their hearing aids. This is the first study to demonstrate that hearing aids reduce listening effort in noisy conditions in school-age children who are hard of hearing. Dual-task results were sensitive to changes in effort when listening in noise, but not in quiet. Subjective measures were sensitive to changes in effort in quiet, but not in noise. The present study makes a novel and important contribution to the literature on listening effort in school-age children who are hard of hearing. The results of this study support consistent hearing aid use in children who are hard of hearing, as we demonstrated that hearing aids provide benefits beyond auditory access.

Hearing Aids Can Reduce Listening Effort in School-Age Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

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