| Over 30% of individuals identified with a bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss use unilateral amplification. It has been shown, through acclimatization and auditory deprivation, that unilateral amplification use with bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss can alter word recognition ability. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of monaural amplification had a negative effect and if binaural amplification had a positive effect on central auditory processing. There were 30 subjects equally divided into three groups: a control group, a unilaterally aided group, and a binaurally aided group. Each group was exposed to the experimental conditions twice, with a six-month interval between the tests. During the period between the pretest and post-test, the aided groups were required to use their hearing aids) on a daily basis. At each test session, the subjects completed an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), a Dichotic Digits Test (DDT), and a Staggered Spondaic Word Test (SSW). The results were analyzed through an Analysis of Variance with the null hypothesis being accepted. The study did identify two important trends in the data. The first trend was identified in the SSW. An improvement of approximately 33% in the SSW score should be seen in a test-retest design, however, the left ear showed a 9% improvement in the post-test score. The second trend was identified with the ABR. The absolute latencies of Waves I, III, and V for the right ear were prolonged in the post-test when compared to the pre-test. Both of these trends may indicate subtle peripheral to central neurophysiologic changes in the central auditory system. Further research is needed in this area over an extended period of time to determine if the trends identified in this study will evolve into factors that compromise the word recognition ability of individuals with bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss who elect to use unilateral amplification. |
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