ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Individuals with similar degrees of hearing impairment frequently show significantly different speech understanding in noise stimulation. A Korean version of the Hearing in Noise Test (KHINT) has been developed to assess the ability to recognize speech in noise. However, sentences in KHINT have been designed for subjects older than 16 years old and there have been no reports on KHINT related to the effect of age in the children younger than that age. The objective of this study was to evaluate the result of KHINT in children. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: One hundred one children between 7 and 16 years with no otologic history and normal hearing were included in this study. KHINT was conducted under the following four different conditions: speech in the quiet environment, with noise in the front, with noise in the right or in the left. The mean reception threshold for speech (RTS) in the quiet condition and signal to noise ratio (SNR) in the noisy condition were measured under four different conditions. RESULTS: There was no correlation between age and RTS. However, SNR with noise in the front, left and right conditions, as well as composite SNR, showed significant decrease with the decreasing age of children. CONCLUSION: According to KHINT, children showed decreased speech with decreasing age. Therefore, a separate KHINT with correlation factors to assess children's functional hearing ability in noise should be developed.