Guidelines of the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (SFORL) and the French Society of Audiology (SFA) for Speech-in-Noise Testing in Adults

C-A Joly; P Reynard; K Mezzi; D Bakhos; F Bergeron; D Bonnard; S Borel; D Bouccara; A Coez; F Dejean; M Del Rio; F Leclercq; P Henrion; M Marx; T Mom; I Mosnier; M Potier; C Renard; T Roy; F Sterkers-Artières; F Venail; P Verheyden; E Veuillet; C Vincent; H Thai-Van

doi:10.1016/j.anorl.2021.05.005

Guidelines of the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (SFORL) and the French Society of Audiology (SFA) for Speech-in-Noise Testing in Adults

Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis. 2022 Jan;139(1):21-27. doi: 10.1016/j.anorl.2021.05.005. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Authors

C-A Joly¹, P Reynard², K Mezzi³, D Bakhos⁴, F Bergeron⁵, D Bonnard⁶, S Borel⁷, D Bouccara⁸, A Coez⁹, F Dejean¹⁰, M Del Rio¹¹, F Leclercq¹², P Henrion¹⁰, M Marx¹³, T Mom¹⁴, I Mosnier⁷, M Potier¹⁵, C Renard¹², T Roy¹⁶, F Sterkers-Artières¹⁷, F Venail¹⁸, P Verheyden¹⁹, E Veuillet², C Vincent²⁰, H Thai-Van²¹

Affiliations

¹ Institut de l'Audition - Institut Pasteur, Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), 75012 Paris, France; Department of Audiology and Otoneurological Evaluation, Edouard-Herriot Hospital, HCL (Hospices Civils de Lyon), 69003 Lyon, France.
² Institut de l'Audition - Institut Pasteur, Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), 75012 Paris, France; Department of Audiology and Otoneurological Evaluation, Edouard-Herriot Hospital, HCL (Hospices Civils de Lyon), 69003 Lyon, France; Claude-Bernard University Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France.
³ Department of Audiology and Otoneurological Evaluation, Edouard-Herriot Hospital, HCL (Hospices Civils de Lyon), 69003 Lyon, France.
⁴ Department of ENT and Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital of Tours, 37000 Tours, France; iBrain, Inserm U1253, University of Tours, 37000 Tours, France.
⁵ Université Laval, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, G1V 0A6 Québec City, QC, Canada.
⁶ Institut de l'Audition - Institut Pasteur, Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), 75012 Paris, France; Department of ENT, University Hospital of Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France.
⁷ Functional unit for auditory implants and audiovestibular testing, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ile de France reference centre for cochlear and brainstem implants in adults, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Group, Sorbonne University, AP-HP, 75013 Paris, France.
⁸ Department of ENT and Head & Neck Oncology, Georges-Pompidou European Hospital, Paris Ouest University Hospitals, AP-HP, 75015 Paris, France.
⁹ Institut de l'Audition - Institut Pasteur, Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), 75012 Paris, France; Laboratoire de correction auditive Eric Bizaguet, 750001 Paris, France.
¹⁰ French Society of Audiology, 75116 Paris, France.
¹¹ École d'Audioprothèse - Université de Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France; Caudéran Audition, 33200 Bordeaux, France.
¹² Laboratoire d'Audiologie Renard, 59000 Lille, France; Department of Otology and Otoneurology, Salengro Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France.
¹³ Department of Otology, Otoneurology, and Paediatric Otorhinolaryngology, Pierre-Paul-Riquet Hospital, Toulouse Purpan University Hospital, 31000 Toulouse, France; Brain and Cognition Laboratory, UMR 5549, Toulouse III University, 31000 Toulouse, France.
¹⁴ Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Gabriel-Montpied University Hospital, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France; Inserm UMR 1107, Sensorineural Biophysics Laboratory, Clermont-Auvergne University, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
¹⁵ Laboratoire d'Audiologie Clinique, 11100 Narbonne, France.
¹⁶ Laboratoires F. Le Her, 76000 Rouen, France; Department of ENT and Head & Neck Surgery, Charles Nicolle University Hospital, 76000 Rouen, France.
¹⁷ Department of Audiophonology, Hôpital Institut Saint Pierre, 34250 Palavas Les Flots, France.
¹⁸ Department of ENT & Maxillofacial Surgery, Gui-de-Chauliac University Hospital, 34000 Montpellier, France; Inserm U1051, Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier, University of Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France.
¹⁹ Department of Audiology, Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci, Institut libre Marie Haps, Bruxelles, Belgium.
²⁰ Department of Otology and Otoneurology, Salengro Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France.
²¹ Institut de l'Audition - Institut Pasteur, Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), 75012 Paris, France; Department of Audiology and Otoneurological Evaluation, Edouard-Herriot Hospital, HCL (Hospices Civils de Lyon), 69003 Lyon, France; Claude-Bernard University Lyon 1, 69100 Villeurbanne, France; French Society of Audiology, 75116 Paris, France. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34140263
DOI: 10.1016/j.anorl.2021.05.005

Abstract

Objectives: This document presents the fundamentals of speech audiometry in noise, general requirements for implementation and criteria for choice among the tests available in French according to the health-professional's needs.

Material and methods: The recommendations are based on a systematic analysis of the literature carried out by a multidisciplinary group of doctors, audiologists and audioprosthetists from all over France. They are graded A, B, C or expert opinion according to decreasing level of scientific evidence.

Results: Eight tests of speech audiometry in noise can be used in France.

Conclusion: To be complete, evaluation of hearing status requires testing understanding of speech in noise. The examination must begin with a minimum of two measurements familiarizing the subject with the test procedure. For initial diagnosis, adaptive procedures establishing the 50% speech reception threshold (SRT50) in noise are to be preferred in order to obtain a rapid and standardized measurement of perception of speech in noise. When the aim is to measure real-life speech comprehension, tests based on sentences, cocktail-party noise and free-field stimulation are to be preferred. Prosthetic gain is evaluated exclusively in free field. This is the only way to evaluate the contribution of binaurality and to measure perception in noise in an environment as close as possible to real life. In order to avoid acoustic interference in free field, at least five loudspeakers should be used, in particular for evaluating the effectiveness of directional microphones, CROS devices enabling sounds picked up in the damaged ear to be rerouted to the functional ear, or bimodal fitting (i.e., when hearing is enabled by two modalities: for example, hearing aid for one ear, cochlear implant for the other).

Keywords: French language; Guidelines; Hearing loss; Speech audiometry in noise.

Publication types

Practice Guideline

MeSH terms

Adult
Audiology*
Cochlear Implants*
Hearing Aids*
Humans
Otolaryngology*
Speech
Speech Perception*