AUTHOR=Shehabi Adnan M. , Prendergast Garreth , Guest Hannah , Plack Christopher J. 

TITLE=The Effect of Lifetime Noise Exposure and Aging on Speech-Perception-in-Noise Ability and Self-Reported Hearing Symptoms: An Online Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.890010

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2022.890010

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=Animal research shows that aging and excessive noise exposure damage cochlear outer hair cells, inner hair cells, and the synapses connecting inner hair cells with the auditory nerve. This may translate into auditory symptoms such as difficulty understanding speech in noise, tinnitus, and hyperacusis. The current study, using a novel online approach, assessed the effects of lifetime noise exposure and aging on (i) speech-perception-in-noise (SPiN) thresholds, (ii) self-reported hearing ability, and (iii) the presence of chronic tinnitus. Secondary aims involved documenting the effects of lifetime noise exposure and aging on tinnitus handicap and the severity of hyperacusis.

Two hundred and ninety-four adults with no past diagnosis of hearing and memory impairments were recruited online. Participants were assigned into two groups: 217 "young" (age range: 18-35 years, females: 151) and 77 "older" (age range: 50-70 years, females: 50). Participants completed a set of online instruments including an otologic health and demographic questionnaire, a dementia screening tool, forward and backward digit span tests, a noise exposure questionnaire, the Khalfa hyperacusis questionnaire, the short-form of the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing scale, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, a digits-in-noise test, and a Coordinate Response Measure speech-perception test. Analyses controlled for sex and digit span scores. A detailed protocol was pre-registered, to guard against “p-hacking” of this extensive data-set.

Lifetime noise exposure did not predict SPiN thresholds, self-reported hearing ability, nor the presence of tinnitus in either age group. Exploratory analyses showed that worse hyperacusis scores, and a greater prevalence of tinnitus, were associated significantly with high lifetime noise exposure in the young, but not in the older group. Age was a significant predictor of SPiN thresholds and the presence of chronic tinnitus, but not of self-reported hearing ability, tinnitus handicap, nor severity of hyperacusis.

Consistent with several lab studies, our online-derived data suggest that older adults with no diagnosis of hearing impairment have poorer SPiN ability and a higher risk of chronic tinnitus than their younger counterparts. Moreover, lifetime noise exposure may increase the risk of tinnitus and the severity of hyperacusis in young adults with no diagnosis of hearing impairment.