Development of the Hearing and Cognition Questionnaire (HaCQ) Using a Dual Task Paradigm to Measure Listening Effort in Mild Hearing Loss

Abstract

Aims: Were to develop a dual task that would measure listening effort. Compare this task to known robust measures of hearing and cognition and use the data from all tests to construct a short, easily administered questionnaire that reflected the variables of hearing and cognition. Methods: Participants were 25 adults aged 21 – 56, with normal to mild hearing loss. Consonant Nucleus Consonant (CNC) words in noise and the Sternburg visual task (Sternberg, 1969) were used to assess listening effort. Cognition was assessed using a selection of WAIS IV (Wechsler, 2008) subscales, and hearing was measured by pure tone audiometry. Correlations between all variables were assessed; age and attention were controlled for using a regression analysis. From this the 19 item HaCQ was developed. Results: Marginal associations were found between hearing cognition and listening effort variables. A factor analysis of the questionnaire revealed a two factor solution that made up two subscales called; hearing and processing. Age had a significant role, predicting increased hearing loss and listening effort before it was controlled for. Subjective results from the questionnaire indicated that with increased scores (worse hearing and cognition); hearing loss and listening effort increased and cognitive ability fell. Conclusions: The results indicate that hearing and cognition and connect and that listening effort plays a role in both interactions. This was found in relatively young people with little or no hearing loss. The idea that any sort of hearing loss could lead to cognitive decline has far reaching implications. Changes in testing protocols to include cognitive measures, intervention strategies for people with almost normal hearing, effects on learning and cognitive training exercises that could help to reduce these effects are discussed.