Turkish Hearing in Noise Test for Adults: Revisited and Updated Normative Data
Şule Çekiç, Ecem Kartal Özcan, Gonca SennaroğluABSTRACT
Objectives
This study aimed to revisit and update the normative data for the Turkish HINT by presenting headphone and loudspeaker results, establishing reference values in a quiet, non‐sound‐treated room, and identifying common clinical application errors with recommendations for improving test accuracy and consistency.
Methods
This was a prospective cross‐sectional study. A total of 30 normal‐hearing adults were participated. The measurements were performed in a quiet, non‐sound‐treated room in an ENT clinic. Each participant was tested with both headphones and loudspeakers under four listening conditions: Quiet, Noise Front (NF), Noise Right (NR), and Noise Left (NL). The Reception Threshold for Sentences (RTS) in quiet and the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) in three conditions (NF, NR, and NL) were assessed.
Results
The mean scores and standard deviations of the best two‐score averages obtained with headphones and loudspeakers were presented. A significant multivariate effect of presentation mode (loudspeakers vs. headphones) was detected ( p < 0.001). Performance varied significantly across front and side listening conditions, while no difference was found between the NR and NL conditions under either presentation mode ( p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Normative data for headphones and loudspeakers in a quiet room rather than a sound‐treated booth were provided. Such data are important because many clinics either lack access to sound‐treated booths or have booths that are too small to accommodate the loudspeakers. In addition, several issues encountered during test administration were discussed, and practical solutions were presented.