The Impact of Age, Sex, and Hearing Thresholds on Speech Recognition in Quiet and Noise

After accounting for hearing sensitivity, age showed minimal effects on speech performance in normal-hearing and hearing-loss groups, explaining less than 1% of WRQ variance and < 0.5 dB on QuickSIN. These findings suggest age has limited impact on speech recognition once hearing thresholds are considered. Small but consistent sex effects aligned with prior work. For WRQ, ceiling effects may mask age-related changes, while for QuickSIN, the small effect may be driven by additional peripheral or central auditory factors.