Listening effort in individuals with noise-induced hearing loss

Objective: The cognitive capacity allocates the resources effectively for effortless listening to speech presented in noise. This entity is minimally explored in individuals with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL); therefore, the listening effort in individuals with NIHL at different signal-to-noise ratios was investigated. Method: Forty participants with symmetrical mild sensorineural hearing loss were sub-grouped into control and clinical groups. The listening effort was measured using the dual-task paradigm at four different signal-to-noise conditions. In addition, a gap detection test was used to assess temporal processing ability. Results: The repeat and recall scores were reduced with decreased signal-to-noise ratios in each group. These differences were significantly poorer in the clinical group than in the control group. A significant strong positive relation was observed between the recall and repeat scores of both groups for the listening effort tasks. Temporal processing impairment was significantly higher in the clinical group than in the control group. Conclusion: Individuals with noise-induced hearing loss exhibit a significant temporal processing impairment that leads to effortful listening than hearing loss alone.