Table 1.
Mean and standard deviation of the SSQ item scores ordered within each of the three subscale sections from the lowest (most difficult) to the highest (least difficult) scoring item
| Mean | Standard deviation | |
|---|---|---|
| Speech-hearing items | ||
| Follow one person speaking and telephone at same time | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Having conversation with five people in noise—no vision | 2.7 | 2.2 |
| Talk with one person and follow TV | 3.0 | 2.6 |
| Having conversation with five people in noise with vision | 3.4 | 2.3 |
| Follow conversations without missing start of new talker | 4.0 | 2.4 |
| Having conversation in echoic environment | 4.0 | 2.4 |
| Follow one conversation when many people talking | 4.3 | 2.6 |
| Having conversation with five people in quiet with vision | 4.5 | 2.7 |
| Talking with one person in continuous background noise | 4.6 | 2.4 |
| Talking with one person with TV on | 4.6 | 2.7 |
| Ignore interfering voice of same pitch | 4.9 | 2.4 |
| Ignore interfering voice of different pitch | 5.0 | 2.6 |
| Have conversation on telephone | 6.8 | 2.1 |
| Talking with one person in quiet room | 7.1 | 2.4 |
| Spatial hearing items | ||
| Judge distance from footsteps or voice | 4.2 | 2.6 |
| Judge distance of vehicle | 4.5 | 2.7 |
| Locate lawnmower | 4.6 | 2.7 |
| Identify lateral movement of vehicle | 4.8 | 2.7 |
| Locate vehicle from footpath | 4.9 | 2.8 |
| Identify lateral movement from voice or footsteps | 5.0 | 2.7 |
| Identify whether a vehicle is approaching or receding | 5.3 | 2.8 |
| Locate above or below on stairwell | 5.5 | 2.8 |
| Identify approach or recede from voice or footsteps | 5.6 | 2.7 |
| Locate speaker round a table | 5.6 | 2.8 |
| Locate dog barking | 6.0 | 2.6 |
| Sounds in expected location | 6.0 | 2.8 |
| Sounds closer than expected | 6.1 | 2.7 |
| Locate a door slam in unfamiliar house | 6.1 | 2.8 |
| Lateralize a talker to left to right | 7.0 | 2.6 |
| Sounds further than expected | 7.3 | 2.2 |
| Internalization of sounds | 7.5 | 2.3 |
| Qualities of hearing items | ||
| Need to concentrate when listening | 3.7 | 2.8 |
| Effort of conversation | 4.0 | 3.1 |
| Understand when driver of a car | 4.6 | 2.8 |
| Ability to ignore competing sounds | 5.3 | 3.1 |
| Understand when car passenger | 5.4 | 2.7 |
| Sounds appearing jumbled | 5.9 | 3.1 |
| Naturalness of other voices | 6.0 | 2.5 |
| Music and voice as separate objects | 6.3 | 2.7 |
| Clarity of everyday sounds | 6.6 | 2.7 |
| Identify instruments in music | 6.6 | 3.0 |
| Separation of two sounds | 6.6 | 3.0 |
| Naturalness of everyday sounds | 7.1 | 2.8 |
| Naturalness of music | 7.2 | 2.6 |
| Judging mood by voice | 7.5 | 2.5 |
| Distinguish different sounds | 7.5 | 2.7 |
| Naturalness of own voice | 7.7 | 2.8 |
| Identify different people by voice | 7.8 | 2.0 |
| Distinguish familiar music | 8.3 | 1.9 |