Listening effort and working memory capacity in hearing impaired individuals: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT Purpose: to review the literature on the behavioral methods of listening effort assessment and the working memory capacity recommended for the hearing impaired. Methods: this review was developed through the search of articles in national and international journals, in English and Portuguese, available in Pubmed/Medline, Cochrane Library, Biblioteca Vitual em Saúde - Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) and Scientific Electronic Library Online, between 2007 and 2017. The articles were selected based on the inclusion criteria: articles that used behavioral methods to assess listening effort in hearing-impaired adults, involving the measurement of working memory and its relationship with the listening effort, published in the last 10 years. Results: Twelve articles in which behavioral measures were used to measure listening effort and working memory capacity in the hearing-impaired individuals were reviewed. Their main findings refer to the purpose(s) of the research, participants, behavioral method composed of a primary task (speech perception) and a secondary task (memorization) and results of the studies. Conclusion:the findings of this review allow us to infer that this paradigm is sensitive to measure the listening effort, considering the different instruments used and the population assessed.