Does effortful speech production indicate communication difficulty caused by noise and hearing aid support?
Abstract
Hearing impairment affects a person’s ability to communicate with others. Communication difficulty remains a little understood concept in research. In this study we assess how parameters of speech affected by noise, hearing aid support, and hearing status reflect a participant’s experience of communication difficulty. We paired 44 participants into dyads consisting of one normal-hearing (NH) and one hearing-impaired (HI) participant. Participants engaged in task-based conversation in quiet as well as in 70dB background noise. HI participants completed the task both with and without hearing aid. After each conversation participants indicated their communication difficulty on a questionnaire. We then analyze how F1, vocal level, and turn taking variability predict communication difficulty. For HI participants, increased vocal level as well as higher variability in turn taking are associated with greater difficulty. For NH participants, increased F1 is associated with greater difficulty.