Noise speech tests in the audiological clinic - An Integrative Review

Introduction: Conventional audiometry is not reliable enough to predict a person’s understanding in a noisy environment, so inserting speech noise tests into the audiological clinical routine can be a useful tool for detecting possible central auditory function problems. Objective: To conduct an integrative literature review on noise speech tests available for use in the audiological clinic. Method: Search for publications without temporal delimitation in the Lilacs, PubMed, Medline, IBCS and SciELO databases, using the following keywords: Noise speech test, auditory perception, auditory discrimination tests, hearing disorders, standardization, development, validation, speech reception threshold tests, hearing perception and hearing loss. There was no exclusion by publication period. The articles were searched in June and July 2017. Results: A total of 1200 articles were found and 39 were included in this integrative review because they met the inclusion criteria. In the selected articles, 25 different materials were used to evaluate speech in noise: syllables, words, sentences, digits and association of words and tone and words and sentences. The types of noise used were: speech spectrum, babble noise, white noise and stationary noise and these materials were developed for use in adults and / or children and subjects with and / or without hearing loss. Conclusion: All authors reported the importance of inserting speech tests in noise into the clinical routine, since only conventional audiometry does not predict speech comprehension in noisy environment.