![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Since then, it has been recommended to include behavioral and electrophysiological tests in the assessment of the central and peripheral hearing for this end 8.Īdults with hearing loss frequently complain of the difficulty in understanding speech in noisy environments. With this goal, back in 1992, Gatehouse 7 had suggested that the effect of auditory deprivation could be detected in a more precise and earlier way should more sensitive instruments had been used to recognize speech in silence. At the time, it became clear that the detection of the possible deleterious effects of unilateral hearing deprivation would depend not only on the sensitivity of the instrument used in its assessment, but also on the systematic incorporation of its monitoring in the audiological clinical routine. The relevance of these findings became more evident since the holding of the “ 1 st Eriksholm Workshop” in Auditory Acclimatization and Deprivation 6, based on which there has been guidelines, consensus recommendations and future studies published on the topic. Upon prospective assessment of adults with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, who made long use of unilateral hearing aid, noticed a significant reduction on the speech recognition of the ear which did not receive stimulation by means of a hearing aid, while on the fitted ear the indices were kept proportionally stable, causing a significant interaural discrepancy 3-5. Long hearing deprivation periods, either partial or complete, caused by fitting an unilateral hearing aid in individuals with bilateral hearing loss, are the basis of a phenomenon which was first described in 1984 3 and called “Unilateral Hearing Deprivation of Late Onset”. Considering the aforementioned, it seems coherent to suggest that the fitting of a bilateral hearing aid should be preferred, whenever there is no contraindication for it 1,2. The interference or reduction in this skill frequently causes feelings of insecurity concerning the environment around us.įitting a bilateral hearing aid uses the possibility of interaction between both hearing pathways and, thus, provides the hearing impaired with the possibility of using both ears with superior quality of sound in terms of clarity, redundancy, binaural summation effect, stereophonics, no head shadow effects and, even a greater effectiveness in tinnitus suppression 1. Binaural hearing plays a fundamental role in monitoring and controlling numerous situations of alert and orientation in the daily routines of human beings. The advantages of binaural hearing have been extensively communicated and documented: the possibility of functionally using both ears brings about a better understanding of speech in a noisy or reverberating environment the capacity to locate sounds is highly dependent on the possibility of perceiving sounds with both ears at the same time 1. These results corroborate findings in the literature showing that unilateral auditory deprivation can lead to physiological and perceptual changes. This same group also had poorer performance on the Sentence Recognition Test in Noise held in free field. Variance analysis revealed that in the unilaterally fitted group, P300 latency was significantly greater in ears with auditory deprivation compared with those fitted with the hearing aid ( p < 0.05). Thirty five adults, all with symmetric bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, regular users of unilateral hearing aid, bilateral hearing aids and not users of hearing aids, were assessed on behavioral and electrophysiological tests. To carry out behavioral and electrophysiological assessment of the auditory performance of adults using unilateral amplification compared with individuals exposed to bilateral symmetric auditory stimulation. However, a high number of unilateral hearing aid fittings are still carried out in cases of bilateral hearing loss, justified by non-auditory factors such as cost, vanity, misinformation and public health policies. The phenomenon of Late-Onset Unilateral Auditory Deprivation was first reported in 1984. ![]()
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