A Dutch version of a dual-task paradigm for measuring listening effort: a pilot study regarding its short-term test-retest reliability

Objective: This study investigated the short-term test-retest reliability of a Dutch dual-task (DT) paradigm for measuring listening effort. Listening effort refers to the attention and cognitive resources necessary for understanding speech and can therefore provide information over and beyond the traditional speech audiometry outcomes. Such information can be beneficial in clinical practice as a part of the audiological test battery and therapeutic interventions such as hearing aids. To use this Dutch DT paradigm in further research and clinical practice, studies regarding its reliability are necessary. Methods: A DT paradigm was used in which a primary speech-recognition task and a secondary visual memory task needed to be performed separately and simultaneously. Twenty-three young adults between the age of 18 and 31 years with normal hearing were tested at two moments. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) showed a variation in reliability for both the primary and secondary tasks. In contrast, the coefficient of variation of the method error (CV ME) showed good reliability for both the primary and secondary tasks. For listening effort, a large variation in ICC values as well as CV ME values were found. Conclusion: This study explored the short-term reliability of a DT paradigm for measuring listening effort. On the basis of these results, further studies to expand and refine this paradigm as well as studies regarding test-retest reliability are needed.