A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis for Better Measurement of Listening Effort in Adults with Hearing Loss

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify better tools for measuring listening effort in the hearing-impaired and/or hearing aid users and to suggest its clinical implication by using systematic review and meta-analysis. To search articles from six electronic databases, ‘listening effort’, ‘hearing loss/hearing impaired’, and ‘hearing aid(s)’ were used as their key terms. Although 8,761 articles were found initially, only 19 articles which met the inclusion criteria were applied to the further review and analysis. In a checklist of the study quality, there was no significant difference between the articles. Based on meta-analysis of three subgroups (i.e., objective, subjective, and self-report rating), the objective measurements showed statistically significant and the highest effect size (1.031, 95% confidence interval: -0.106-2.169), whereas the self-report rating had the lowest effect size (-1.280, 95% confidence interval: -4.180-1.620) with no significance. Although the funnel plot was asymmetrical, the Egger’s regression asymmetry test revealed no publication bias. In sum, the objective measurement showed the most effective way to evaluate the listening effort for the hearing-impaired and/or hearing aid users. However, there was a non-negligible variance between the types of measurements. In the following study, we suggest to investigate certain relationship between listening effort and speech perception performance in the hearing-impaired and/or hearing aid users and to establish standardized criteria for clinical purposes of the listening effort.