Investigation of Anatomical Correlates of Speech Discrimination

Completed

Conditions studied: Sensorineural Hearing Loss

In brief

Understanding speech is essential for good communication. Individuals with hearing loss and poor speech discrimination often have little success with hearing aids because amplifying sound improves audibility, but not clarity of the speech signal. The purpose of this study is to determine the relative importance of the sensory cells of the inner ear and auditory neurons on speech discrimination performance in quiet and in noise. This information may be used as a predictor of hearing aid benefit. The investigators expect to find decreased speech understanding ability resulting from both loss of sensory cells and the loss of auditory neurons.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01781039

Run by

Steward St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, Inc.

People needed

186

Starts

2013-01-01

Expected to finish

2019-12-12

Last updated by the study team

2026-03-12

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 100. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Normal hearing to moderate sensorineural hearing loss
• Sufficient English proficiency to complete speech discrimination testing in English

You may not qualify if…

• Hearing loss less than a 45 dB HL pure tone average (average hearing thresholds at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz)
• Conductive hearing loss
• Neurodegenerative disease

Where it is running

• Steward St. Elizabeth's Medical Center — Brighton, Massachusetts, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.