A preliminary study on time-compressed speech recognition in noise among teenage students who use personal listening devices.

OBJECTIVE: To compare speech perception obtained with different time compression rates in teenagers that do or do not use personal listening devices (PLDs).

DESIGN: Teenagers in a high school were recruited to complete questionnaires reporting their recreational noise exposure using PLDs. The dose of individual recreational noise exposure was calculated. The individuals with the most and least doses of recreational noise were selected and grouped into PLD users and non-PLD users. Normal rate and time-compressed (60% and 70%) speech recognition in quiet and noisy conditions was measured.

STUDY SAMPLE: PLD user and non-PLD user group each included 20 participants.

RESULTS: ANOVA analysis showed that the effect of group, background, compression rate, and interactions between any two factors are significant. Post hoc analysis showed that the speech recognition scores with normal rate in quiet and noise and those obtained from time-compressed speech in the quiet condition were not significantly different between PLD users and non-PLD users. However, differences in the time-compressed speech recognition scores (60% and 70%) in noisy conditions between the two groups were statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: The fast-speed speech recognition in noise decreased significantly in PLD users compared with that in non-PLD users selected by extreme entertainment exposure.