TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-verbal visual reinforcement affects speech audiometry in the elderly
AU - Di Berardino, Federica
AU - Forti, Stella
AU - Mattei, Valentina
AU - Alpini, Dario
AU - Cesarani, Antonio
PY - 2010/9
Y1 - 2010/9
N2 - The purpose of this study was to investigate how non-verbal visual reinforcement provided by the audiologist during speech testing influences performance in the elderly. Thirty-two volunteers with age-related hearing loss with or without dual sensory-impairment (DSI), were administered a speech audiometry test in which they repeated lists of ten disyllabic words in two different conditions, namely with and without visual reinforcement. In the conditions of "with visual reinforcement", the tester provided non-verbal cues to acknowledge the response of each participant. The "visual reinforcement" condition did not apparently provide any significant variation in the results. However, when we considered the group of patients without DSI, the non-verbal "visual reinforcement" resulted in better scores (p <0.001). Non-verbal visual reinforcement may influence speech audiometry results in the elderly. During speech testing of elderly people with age-related hearing loss, audiologists should always remember to administer visual reinforcement to the patients in order to remove a possible confounding factor from audiological evaluation.
AB - The purpose of this study was to investigate how non-verbal visual reinforcement provided by the audiologist during speech testing influences performance in the elderly. Thirty-two volunteers with age-related hearing loss with or without dual sensory-impairment (DSI), were administered a speech audiometry test in which they repeated lists of ten disyllabic words in two different conditions, namely with and without visual reinforcement. In the conditions of "with visual reinforcement", the tester provided non-verbal cues to acknowledge the response of each participant. The "visual reinforcement" condition did not apparently provide any significant variation in the results. However, when we considered the group of patients without DSI, the non-verbal "visual reinforcement" resulted in better scores (p <0.001). Non-verbal visual reinforcement may influence speech audiometry results in the elderly. During speech testing of elderly people with age-related hearing loss, audiologists should always remember to administer visual reinforcement to the patients in order to remove a possible confounding factor from audiological evaluation.
KW - Age-related hearing loss
KW - Speech audiometry
KW - Visual impairment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955516161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77955516161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00405-010-1254-7
DO - 10.1007/s00405-010-1254-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 20414666
AN - SCOPUS:77955516161
VL - 267
SP - 1367
EP - 1370
JO - European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
JF - European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
SN - 0937-4477
IS - 9
ER -