ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the signal-to-noise ratio loss (SNR loss) of the people with normal pure-tone audiograms .Methods A group of 10 patients were recruited into the study ,who complained they could not hear speech clearly in the real world environment but had normal pure-tone audiograms ,immittance and word rec-ognition score (WRS) results .The Mandarin hearing in noise test (M-HINT ) was administered to them and the results were compared to the normal ranges published in the journal .Results All of them had SNR loss when noise (speech spectrum) came from front of them ,but 9 patients had SNR loss when noise came from 90 degree left or 90 degree right of them .Conclusion The current study showed the patients had speech hearing loss in the noisy envi-ronment ,regardless of whether they had normal audiograms ,immittance and WRS results .So we should pay atten-tion to such patients and adopt some special tests (eg M-HINT) .It is better for us to communicate and counsel with them .