Dual Assessment of Word Recognition and Auditory Working Memory in Older Adults With Hearing Loss: Validation of the Korean Word Recognition and Span Test.

Purpose: This study aimed to validate the Korean Word Recognition and Span Test (K-WRST) in older adults with hearing loss. The K-WRST was developed to simultaneously assess auditory working memory and monosyllabic word recognition using standardized Korean Speech Audiometry materials.

Method: Forty-two older adults (age range: 60-84 years, M = 70.67 years, SD = 6.05) with slight to profound age-related hearing loss participated in this study. The K-WRST was administered under four test conditions, varying by background noise (quiet vs. noise) and recall order (forward vs. backward): quiet-forward (QF), quiet-backward (QB), noise-forward, and noise-backward (NB). Outcome measures included word recognition scores, percent correct recall, and word-recall span. Validation was conducted by examining correlations and regression analyses between K-WRST outcomes and working memory measures, including digit span scores from the Korean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition and a reference word span test (R-WST).

Results: Word recognition and recall performance were significantly affected by noise, with quiet conditions yielding higher scores. Word-recall span was highest in the QF condition and lowest in the NB condition. Among the four conditions, QB span scores demonstrated the strongest and most consistent correlations with both digit span and R-WST outcomes. Regression analyses identified QB span as the best predictor of working memory outcomes in older adults.

Conclusions: The K-WRST appears to be a valid tool for concurrently assessing word recognition and auditory working memory in older adults with hearing loss. The results underscore the clinical potential of the K-WRST, particularly the QB condition, as a cognitively informative measure in audiological evaluation.