Question
What is the ACT™ Test?
Answer
The ACT test™, or Audible Contrast Threshold Test, is a proxy for an aided Speech-In-Noise test that was developed by Oticon. Results of the ACT test have a strong correlation with predicted aided performance in noisy environments. It is specifically designed to work with the hearing aid fitting software to get recommendations on programming the advanced features of the hearing instrument.
How Do You Perform the ACT Test?
The ACT test is a threshold test. The patient listens for the ACT stimulus that is presented over the ACT noise to determine the contrast threshold. There is a demo mode that plays examples of the stimulus, the noise, and both (stimulus and noise) together. The ACT stimulus will be presented at various signal to noise ratios until an ACT threshold is achieved. This ACT threshold is the smallest amount of contrast between the signal and noise that is perceived by the patient.
Before you perform the ACT test, you must get an audiogram for both ears. The ACT will test both ears at the same time using a patient specific binaural stimulus. The ACT stimulus is a spectral-temporal speech noise that is presented at various SNR over a broadband noise that plays continuously throughout the test. The level of the ACT presentation level is determined by the audiometric results of each patient.
The ACT test is a fast and easy way to quantify the predicted success for hearing aids in noisy or complex listening situations. Hearing loss affects every patient uniquely. It is not unusual to have two patients with the same hearing loss and have totally different results when they are in challenging listening situations. ACT scores will predict the patients’ success and serve as a guide to setting up some of the more advanced hearing aid features. The ACT test provides objective insight into how to program the hearing instruments more effectively.
For more information on the ACT test, please visit www.grason-stadler.com/ACT.
