Entropy as a Measure of Auditory Environment Diversity: An Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Approach

Objectives: To determine the validity and usefulness of entropy computed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data as a measure of auditory environment diversity. Design: We conducted two secondary analyses on existing EMA datasets. The first determined the construct validity of auditory environment entropy by examining the effect of COVID-19 on entropy. To demonstrate entropy’s usefulness, the second examined if entropy could predict the benefit of hearing aid (HA) noise reduction features. Results: Consistent with the known effect of COVID-19 on social lifestyle, COVID-19 significantly reduced auditory environment diversity, supporting entropy’s construct validity. HA users with higher entropy reported poorer outcomes and perceived more benefit from HA features, supporting the feasibility of using entropy to predict communication performance and feature benefit. Conclusions: Entropy derived from EMA data is a valid and useful auditory environment diversity measure. This measure could allow researchers to better understand the communication needs of people with hearing loss.