스마트 기기의 등장은 우리 사회를 스마트 미디어 사회로 변 화시켰으며, 스마트 기기 중에서 스마트폰의 성능과 기능은 이 동 및 정보 통신사업의 발전과 함께 짧은 시간 안에 비약적으 로 발전하였다(Jang & Kim, 2010). 스마트폰이 등장한 초기에 는 비싼 기기 가격과 통신 비용으로 보급이 저조하였으나, 점차 스마트폰의 보급률이 높아져서 2015년에는 휴대폰 가입자 5,720만명 중에서 약 70%가 스마트폰 사용자로 보고되었다 (Yoo, 2015). 모바일 시장조사업체인 와이즈앱이 10대에서 50대 까지의 국내 한국인 중에서 안드로이드 스마트폰 사용자(n = 14,439)를 대상으로 스마트폰 사용 실태조사를 한 결과, 스마트 폰을 하루 평균 3시간을 사용하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 즉, 한국인의 하루 수면시간인 약 7시간을 제외하면, 스마트폰을 하루 활동 시간의 25% 정도 사용하고 있었다(Mang, 2016). 그 리고 국내 스마트폰 사용자는 한 달에 평균 45개의 어플리케이 션(application, 앱)을 사용하고 있어서, 스마트폰 사용 시간뿐 만 아니라 사용하는 앱 개수도 아시아-태평양 지역에서 가장 높은 수치였다.

The purpose of this paper was to review the theoretical background and various approaches to use of the Ling 6 sound test, and to suggest an appropriate application method in Korea. Methods: The definition and history of the Ling 6 sound test and phonetic information about the six sounds used in the test, in English and Korean, were reviewed separately with related research. The information for the administration and variation of the original Ling 6 sound test, and application of those sounds in aural rehabilitation programs for infants and toddlers were provided. Results: The Ling 6 sounds have been widely used as a fast and easy assessment tool to examine the speech perception ability and provide validate information regarding the accessibility to speech frequencies, especially in very young children. Thus it has been recommended for parents conduct every day in order to check the function of the device or hearing status of their children. Conclusion: The Ling 6 sound test is useful and can be used regardless of type of hearing device and degree of hearing loss. The information in this paper will be able to provide comprehensive information about the Ling 6 sound test to the experts working with hearing impaired children.

Purpose: This study measured vowel formants and vowel space area from 3 to 6 year-old Korean children in Jeju Island to investigate their characteristics of vowel production and speech intelligibility. Methods: A total of 80 children (10 boys and 10 girls for each age) participated. For obtaining the formants, 7 Korean vowels (/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, / m/, /^/) were used. Vowel space areas (triangular, quadrangular) and speech intelligibility were calculated and compared based on gender and age. Results: Results showed that F1 and F2 of / e/ and /i/ vowels were significantly different as age. In particular, front vowel /e/ and /i/ was significantly lower in 3 years of age but was gradually increased with age. For gender, F2 of vowel /a/ and /e/ were significantly higher in girls while F2 of vowel /i/ was significantly higher in boys (p < 0.05). With respect to vowel space area, significant differences were found in ages (p < 0.05) whereas no differences in gender (p > 0.05). Speech intelligibility was significantly different in age (p < 0.05) while no significant difference was observed in gender (p > 0.05). Significant relationships were found between triangular vowel space areas (r = 0.299, p < 0.01) or quadrilateral vowel space areas (r = 0.570, p < 0.01) and speech intelligibility. Conclusion: Accordingly, quadrilateral vowel space area composed of / i-e-a-u/ was more sensitive than triangular vowel space area composed of /i–a-u/, reflecting the vowel movement space and speech intelligibility objectively.

Purpose: Although many previous studies related to sentence recognition of the hearing-impaired elderly have found their poor performance under various distracting listening conditions, there is still a lack of information for their error type in the sentence. The purpose of present study was to analyze a prominent error type among nine parts of speech in various levels of noise and fast speech conditions for the hearing-impaired elderly. Methods: Seven old listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss participated. For estimating their sentence recognition, Korean Speech Perception in Noise was applied for four signal-to-noise ratios (no noise, +6, +3, 0 dB) and four time alteration conditions (±30%, ±15%), while being presented at the most comfortable level to each participant. Total percent error and substitution error patterns of the sentence recognition were analyzed as a function of conditions. Results: The percent error of sentence recognition was increased as either noise level increased or speech rate was faster. Among the parts of speech, noun substitution error pattern showed the highest number for all participants regardless levels of noise and time alteration. Interestingly, the noun substitution error pattern was outstood in quiet and 15% time compression. Conclusion: Results of the present study suggest that aural rehabilitation of the hearing-impaired elderly may focus on reducing and correcting the noun substitution error to improve their sentence recognition.

Several studies addressed the lack of measuring tools covering “generic” and “disease-specific” conditions in audiology. Outcome measurements mostly used in audiology focused on disease specific conditions and provided little information about individual functioning, other health status, and contextual factors. The biopsychosocial model underlying the International classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) emphasized ongoing interactions among these factors and provided a universal framework. The purpose of this study was to introduce ICF Core Sets for hearing loss and apply the Core Sets as a reference to supplement questionnaires available in audiology. A total of 117 categories for the Comprehensive ICF Cores Set and 27 categories for the Brief ICF Core Set for hearing loss were introduced. The Comprehensive Core Set consists of comprehensively relevant categories for hearing loss across the four ICF domains (body functions, body structures, activities and participation, and environmental factors) and the Brief Core Set captures essential components of the Comprehensive Core Set in a short version. In order to investigate whether every item of the four questionnaires (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly, Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids, and MarkeyTrack survey) have covered the ICF domains or not, main concepts from every question were identified and linked with the ICF Brief Core Set. None of the questionnaires comprehensively covered all functioning categories in the ICF Brief Core Set and only 9 ~ 16 categories out of 27 categories in the ICF Brief Core Set were matched with the main concepts of the questionnaires. This result supported that current questionnaires used in audiology did not cover the ICF categories and the Core Sets for hearing loss would be a useful framework for developing new comprehensive questionnaires in audiology.

GIN (Gaps-In-Noise) test is a clinically useful material which evaluates abilities of auditory temporal processing.Although GIN test has been evaluated from various groups and the normative data of GIN has been obtained from children to older adults, little research has focused on comparison of GIN performances in listeners with tinnitus, hearing loss, and both.The present study aimed to (1) examine the effect of tinnitus and hearing loss on GIN test for four listener groups differing in tinnitus and hearing sensitivity, (2) observe any relationship between the results of GIN test and the subjective responses of K-THI and K-TDI questionnaires.The results showed that both tinnitus and hearing loss significantly affected GIN threshold (ms) and GIN score (%).The results of K-THI and K-TDI questionnaires demonstrate that listeners with tinnitus who performed poorer in GIN test reported greater problems in their life activities.This supports the previous findings that temporal resolution abilities can be influenced by hearing sensitivity as well as tinnitus.Thus, the GIN test can be useful to identify deficits of auditory temporal resolution in patients with tinnitus and hearing loss.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ-K) in normal hearing (NH) children aged 0 through 24 months, and in children with hearing loss (HL) using hearing aids or cochlear implant for 0 through 24 months after identification of their hearing loss before 24 month of age. Data collection was carried out with onehundred eight NH and thirty one HL children filling out a LEAQ-K. There sults with NH group showed that the total score of LEAQ-K was highly correlated with the chronological age (r = .904), and that age accounted for 82.3% of the total variance of the LEAQ-K score, which indicated LEAQ-K homogeneously measured the age-dependent auditory behavior. The Korean norm curve was highly correlated (r = .995) to the data from the overall sample from Coninx et al.(2009), which implied very good comparability of Koran language specific norm data with the overall sample data. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .96) and reliability (Spearman’s split-half coefficient = .93) were very good. The results were true for the HL group using hearing aids or cochlear implant. The rate of auditory development in the HL group was faster than the NH group, especially between 6 through 15 months after exposure to sounds through their hearing assistive devices. The hearing age of the HL group was the only factor that accounted for 73.0% of the total variance of the LEAQ-K total score. The results suggest that LEAQ-K is a reliable and valid tool for assessing auditory skills of young children with and without hearing loss.

노인들은 노화에 따른 건강의 쇠퇴와 함께 동반되는 인지적 능력의 상실, 가족 및 친구 관계 등을 경험할 수 있으며, 이는 사회적 관계의 감소, 직업의 상실로 인하여 경제적 어려움, 노년기 외로움을 가중할 수 있다(박영주 외, 2004). 특히 청각장애는 노인들에게 심리·사회적으로 영향을 미치는 가장 보편적인 장애로 난청으로 인한 가족, 친지 또는 친구들과의 대화 단절은 노년기를 더욱 외롭게 만들 수 있기때문이다(구호림 & 김진숙, 2000; 이정학, 1996). 노년기 청각장애는 의사소통으로 인한 사회적 활동의 제약 뿐 아니라 전반적인 노년기의 삶의 질, 경제적 상황, 건강 상태에 대한 인식 등에도 영향을 주게 되어 노인들에게 미치는 파급효과는 크다고 할 수 있다. 과거에 비해 더 건강하고 사회·경제적 여건이 향상된 노인들의 비율이 늘어날 것으로 보여 보다 나은 삶에 대한 노인복지 서비스의 욕구가 다양하게 증가하고 있으며 그러한 서비스는 가족 보다는 본인 스스로 혹은 사회로부터 지원 받기를 원하는 것으로 조사되었다(보건복지부, 1998). 2008년 노인실태조사에 따르면 현재 청력으로 인하여 9.8%가 일상 활동에 어려움이 있는 것으로 나타났으며 노인의 보청기 사용률이 3.2%로 다른 보조기 사용률에 비해 매우 저조함을 보였다. 이를 볼 때 노인들은 노년기 난청에 대해 개인적 혹은 사회적으로 올바른 대처를 하고 있지 못하다는 것을 알 수 있다. 특히 우리나라는 외국에 비해 빠른 속도로 고령화가 진행되고 있으므로(통계청, 2011) 고령화로 인한 노년기의 청각장애에 대한 사회적 관심과 해결책 마련이 필요하다고 할 수 있다.