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Tone in Noise Detection in Children with a History of Temporary Conductive Hearing Loss

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Abstract

Children with a history of temporary conductive hearing loss (CHL) during early development may show long-term impairments in auditory processes that persist after restoration of normal audiometric hearing thresholds. Tones in noise provide a simplified paradigm for studying hearing in noise. Prior research has shown that adults with sensorineural hearing loss may alter their listening strategy to use single-channel energy cues for tone-in-noise (TIN) detection rather than rove-resistant envelope or spectral profile cues. Our objective was to determine the effect of early CHL on TIN detection in healthy children compared to controls. Children ages 4–7 years, with and without a history of CHL due to otitis media with effusion (OME) before age 3 years, participated in a two-alternative forced choice TIN detection task. Audiometric thresholds were normal at the time of testing. Thresholds for detection of a 1000 Hz tone were measured in fixed-level noise and in roving-level noise that made single-channel energy cues unreliable. Participants included 23 controls and 23 with a history of OME-related CHL. TIN thresholds decreased with increasing age across participants. Children in both groups showed similar TIN sensitivity and little or no threshold elevation in the roving-level condition compared to fixed-level tracks, consistent with use of rove-resistant cues. In contrast to older listeners with sensorineural hearing loss, there was no detectable change in TIN sensitivity with roving level for children with a history of OME-related CHL.

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Funding

The project described in this publication was supported by the University of Rochester CTSA award number UL1TR002001 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 629, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Margo McKenna Benoit, Kenneth S. Henry, Mark Orlando & Paul Allen

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia, USA

    Stephanie Wong

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  1. Margo McKenna Benoit
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Correspondence to Margo McKenna Benoit.

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McKenna Benoit, M., Henry, K.S., Orlando, M. et al. Tone in Noise Detection in Children with a History of Temporary Conductive Hearing Loss. JARO 23, 751–758 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-022-00871-1

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