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Do Hearing Aids Improve Spectral and Speech-in-Noise Perception in Children With Mild Hearing Loss?

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Title: Do Hearing Aids Improve Spectral and Speech-in-Noise Perception in Children With Mild Hearing Loss?
Authors: Konca, Seda1 sedakoncaa@gmail.com, Göçmenler, Hülya2, Terlemez, Şengül3
Source: Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools. Jul2026, Vol. 57 Issue 3, p903-915. 13p.
Subject Terms: *Data analysis, *Audiometry, *Speech audiometry, *Speech perception, *Children, Noise, T-test (Statistics), Sensorineural hearing loss, Hearing aids, Kruskal-Wallis Test, Fisher exact test, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Mann Whitney U Test, Assistive listening systems, Physiological aspects of speech, One-way analysis of variance, Statistics, Impedance audiometry
Geographic Terms: Türkiye
Abstract: Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate spectral resolution and speech understanding in noise among primary school--aged children with bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss (26--40 dB HL) and to investigate the effect of amplification on these auditory abilities. Method: The study included 16 children with normal hearing (Group 3) and 32 children with bilateral mild hearing loss (7--10 years old), divided into aided (Group 1) and unaided (Group 2) subgroups. The mean age of the participants was 8.58 ± 0.99 years. The groups were matched according to grade and gender. Following the completion of the information form, assessments included acoustic immittance, otoacoustic emissions, pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, the spectraltemporally modulated ripple test (SMRT), and the Turkish matrix sentence test (TURMatrix) with an adaptive protocol. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed among the three groups for hearing averages (HAs), speech recognition thresholds (SRTs), speech discrimination scores (SDSs), TURMatrix scores, and SMRT scores, with Group 3 performing better (p < .05). However, no significant differences were found between Groups 1 and 2 in any of these measures, including HA, SRT, SDS, TURMatrix, and SMRT (p > .05). Within Group 1, significant differences were observed between the aided and unaided conditions in HA, SRT, and SDS values measured both under headphones and in the free field, with better results obtained in the aided condition (p < .05). Similarly, TURMatrix scores were significantly higher when tested with hearing aids (p < .05). Conclusions: These findings underscore that even mild hearing loss can negatively affect key auditory processes in children and demonstrate that hearing aids provide measurable benefits, particularly in noisy listening environments. Amplification can play a critical role in supporting auditory development and communication outcomes in this population. Further longitudinal studies are needed to examine the long-term benefits of hearing aid use in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate spectral resolution and speech understanding in noise among primary school--aged children with bilateral mild sensorineural hearing loss (26--40 dB HL) and to investigate the effect of amplification on these auditory abilities. Method: The study included 16 children with normal hearing (Group 3) and 32 children with bilateral mild hearing loss (7--10 years old), divided into aided (Group 1) and unaided (Group 2) subgroups. The mean age of the participants was 8.58 &#177; 0.99 years. The groups were matched according to grade and gender. Following the completion of the information form, assessments included acoustic immittance, otoacoustic emissions, pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, the spectraltemporally modulated ripple test (SMRT), and the Turkish matrix sentence test (TURMatrix) with an adaptive protocol. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed among the three groups for hearing averages (HAs), speech recognition thresholds (SRTs), speech discrimination scores (SDSs), TURMatrix scores, and SMRT scores, with Group 3 performing better (p &lt; .05). However, no significant differences were found between Groups 1 and 2 in any of these measures, including HA, SRT, SDS, TURMatrix, and SMRT (p &gt; .05). Within Group 1, significant differences were observed between the aided and unaided conditions in HA, SRT, and SDS values measured both under headphones and in the free field, with better results obtained in the aided condition (p &lt; .05). Similarly, TURMatrix scores were significantly higher when tested with hearing aids (p &lt; .05). Conclusions: These findings underscore that even mild hearing loss can negatively affect key auditory processes in children and demonstrate that hearing aids provide measurable benefits, particularly in noisy listening environments. Amplification can play a critical role in supporting auditory development and communication outcomes in this population. Further longitudinal studies are needed to examine the long-term benefits of hearing aid use in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: &lt;i&gt;Copyright of Language, Speech &amp; Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder&#39;s express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.&lt;/i&gt; (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2026_LSHSS-25-00169
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 903
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Audiometry
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech audiometry
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Noise
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: T-test (Statistics)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sensorineural hearing loss
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hearing aids
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Kruskal-Wallis Test
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Fisher exact test
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Chi-squared test
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mann Whitney U Test
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Assistive listening systems
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Physiological aspects of speech
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: One-way analysis of variance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Impedance audiometry
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Türkiye
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Do Hearing Aids Improve Spectral and Speech-in-Noise Perception in Children With Mild Hearing Loss?
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            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: Jul2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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            – TitleFull: Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools
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