Web-based auditory training with easy versus hard task settings to improve speech and listening

PLUS-Optimal for Adults With Listening Difficulties: Investigating the Roles of Listening and Thinking Skills in Online Training Across Different Groups

This project will test whether easy or hard versions of a web-based auditory training program help adults with hearing loss improve speech understanding and everyday listening.

Quick facts

• Phase: Not applicable
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: University of Nottingham (Academic / other)
• Locations: 1 site (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire)
• Trial ID: NCT07506408 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This randomized experimental study tests how changing task difficulty affects learning during two versions of the PLUS auditory training (phonemic discrimination and competing speech) in adults with listening difficulties. Participants are randomly assigned to one of the two training programs and to either an easy or hard difficulty arm. Training is delivered online using phones or laptops and includes repeated listening sessions with measurements of on-task learning thresholds and off-task outcomes such as speech perception, cognition, and communication. The primary comparison is whether manipulating perceptual and cognitive demands changes training gains and whether any gains generalize to everyday listening and cognitive measures.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults aged 18 or older with listening difficulties and poorer performance on the DTT (SRT of -5.5 dB SNR or higher), who can read English, give consent, have internet access and working speakers or headphones, and who are not cochlear implant users or have prior auditory training.

Not a fit: People with cochlear implants, those with prior auditory training experience, those who do not meet the DTT performance threshold, or those without internet or functional audio equipment may not benefit or are excluded.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could provide a low-cost, home-delivered program that helps people with hearing loss hear speech better in noisy situations and supports everyday communication.

How similar studies have performed: Previous web-based auditory training work has shown some improvements in speech-in-noise perception and listening, but results are mixed and generalization to everyday communication is not consistently demonstrated.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Adults (aged 18+ years, no upper age limit);
* Poorer performance on the DTT (SRT of -5.5 dB SNR or higher, as defined by Dawes, 2013) completed without hearing aid(s) for those who typically use them;
* Non-hearing device users or hearing aid(s) owner;
* Ability to read and understand English;
* Ability to provide informed consent;
* Access to the internet;
* Access to functional built-in speakers, external speakers, or headphones.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Failure to meet inclusion criteria;
* Having previous auditory training experience;
* Cochlear implant users.

Where this trial is running

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

• NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre — Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Helen Henshaw, PhD — University of Nottingham
• Study coordinator: Natalie Lerigo-Smith, MSc

Conditions Hearing Loss; Auditory Training; Speech Perception; Cognition; Listening Difficulties; Intervention