Assessing Reading and Listening Comprehension Skills of Adults with Hearing Loss in Different Listening Environments

Background: To assess the reading and listening comprehension skills of individuals with hearing loss (HL) in different background noise and listening settings.

Methods: The study comprised 50 people aged 18 to 60, with 25 having HL and 25 having normal hearing (NH). This study compared reading and listening comprehension skills in 2 groups, analyzing reading comprehension in 3 conditions (silent, babble noise, and competing noise) and differences between 2 listening comprehension tests (dialog and monolog) within each group.

Results: The significant difference in reading and listening comprehension skills resulted from lower scores in the HL group. Significant differences in reading comprehension were detected within the HL group across conditions, with the highest performance in quiet settings, followed by babble noise, and the lowest in competing noise. In all situations, NH patients had similar reading comprehension skills. Individuals with hearing loss performed better in dialog-based listening comprehension, while those with normal hearing perform consistently in monolog and dialog.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the difficulties that people with HL encounter in both reading and listening abilities, underlining the importance of individualized training programs.

Cite this article as: Tuz D, Degirmenci Uzun E, Aslan F, Müderris T. Assessing reading and listening comprehension skills of adults with hearing loss in different listening environments. B-ENT. 2024;20(4):232-238.