The World Health Organization (WHO) hearing impairment guidelines and a speech recognition in noise (SRN) disorder.

The WHO uses the better ear PTA_{(0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kHz)} to infer speech recognition in noise (SRN) ability. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of this measure to detect an SRN disorder. The reference standard was the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT). The index test was better ear PTA_{(0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kHz)}. Diagnostic accuracy was determined with receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve (AUC) for data sets with and without complete audibility of the HINT stimuli. Data from previously published studies (n = 381) were retrospectively divided into disordered and control groups. For the All Data analysis, better ear PTA_{(0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kHz)} was a significant predictor of an SRN disorder, however, the AUC was just above chance (AUC = 0.59, p < 0.001). For the Partial Audibility analysis, better ear PTA_{(0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kHz)} was a significant predictor of the target disorder (AUC = 0.85, p = 0.001). The utilization of better ear PTA_{(0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kHz)} to infer SRN ability is questionable for individuals with complete audibility of the reference test speech and noise stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]