Clinical and audiological features of auditory function in foreign medical students studying in Russian

Background. The number of international students in Russian medical universities is steadily increasing. Despite achieving B1–B2 proficiency in Russian, many experience difficulties understanding spoken language, especially in noisy environments and under cognitive load, negatively affecting academic performance and clinical communication.
Objective. To determine the relationship between the audiological examination indicators of foreign medical students studying in Russian-language programs and the results of a questionnaire reflecting communication difficulties.
Material and methods. The study included 178 international medical students (18–30 years, mean 24.1±3.6) enrolled in Russian-medium programs for at least one year: 80 from Arab countries, 48 from English-speaking African countries, and 50 from Southeast Asia. countries. The protocol included ENT examination, pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry with acoustic reflexes, DPOAE, speech audiometry in quiet and noise, and a structured questionnaire assessing communication patterns and perception of Russian speech in typical noisy and emotionally loaded situations.
Results. Normal hearing was found in 72.5%, 75.0, and 60.0% of students across the three groups; mild hearing loss was identified in 27.5%, 25.0, and 40.0%, respectively. Reduced or absent DPOAE was associated with type C tympanograms; in the Southeast Asian group, additional signs suggested early high-frequency cochlear dysfunction. While most students achieved 100% speech recognition in quiet, performance declined in noise (100%: 28.8%, 16.6, 14.0%), with ≤50% scores observed only in the Asian group. About one third of students with normal audiograms reported significant difficulties understanding speech in noise (“hear but do not understand”), which correlated with poorer speech-in-noise performance.
Conclusion. Combining audiological examination, speech-in-noise audiometry with targeted questionnaires enables detection of “hidden” speech perception deficits not identified by standard audiometry. Incorporating such screening helps identify students who may benefit from additional language training.
Keywords:I nternational medical students, Russian as a foreign language, speech in noise perception, questionnaire, speech audiometry
Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Financing. This study received no external funding.