Long-Term Effects of Monaural, Binaural and No Amplification in Subjects with Bilateral Hearing Loss

Abstract

This study expands upon our earlier work by comparing initial PB scores and audiometric thresholds with results obtained 4-17 years later for subjects with bilateral sensorineural hearing losses who were monaurally aided (n = 48), binaurally aided (n = 19), or unaided (n = 19). Thresholds decreased slightly for all groups, but aided and unaided ears did not differ significantly in this respect, revealing no acoustic trauma effect due to hearing aid use. PB scores decreased significantly only for the unaided ear of the monaurally aided subjects, but not for their aided ear, or for the binaurally aided or unaided groups. These findings suggest an auditory deprivation effect for the unaided ear of those wearing a monaural hearing aid. Changes in PB scores were not correlated with duration between the two test dates. Changes in PB scores were correlated with degree of hearing loss only for the unaided group.

Restoring hearing symmetry with two cochlear implants or one cochlear implant and a contralateral hearing aid

“…Word-recognition-in-noise scores at presentation levels between 65 and 90 dB sound pressure level (SPL) were compared in 24 monaurally aided subjects. Results at the highest intensity levels replicated those of Silman et al [43] and Gelfand et al [44], such that the aided ear performed better than the unaided ear. In contrast, at lower levels the finding was the opposite.…”

“…Individuals using binaural amplification or no amplification did not show an interaural difference. This finding was referred to as "lateonset auditory deprivation" and was further substantiated by other studies [44][45][46], as well as by studies in children [47][48]. Evidence that effects of auditory deprivation are associated with amplification fit to only one ear were supported by the 1995 Eriksholm Workshop on Auditory Deprivation and Acclimatization [49].…”

Bilateral hearing aids - effects and consequences from a user perspective

“…Different aspects of the bene t of bilateral HA use have been reported: better subjective rating of sound quality with two HAs (McKenzie & Rice, 1990; Balfour & Hawkins, 1992), better word recognition scores for bilateral HA users (McKenzie & Rice, 1990;Feuerstein, 1992) and reduction of problems associated with tinnitus (Brooks & Bulmer, 1981). Besides these described advantages of bilateral ampli cation, there are reports about negative long-term effects of unilateral ampli cation (Gelfand et al, 1987;Burkey & Arkis, 1993;Gelfand, 1995;Hurley, 1999). In these studies an auditory deprivation effect for the unaided ear has been reported.…”

Progression of sensorineural hearing impairment in aided and unaided ears

“…Some previous reports (Silman et al, 1984(Silman et al, , 1992Gelfand et al, 1987;Dieroff et al, 1989;Gatehouse, 1989;Silverman et al, 1990) claim that deterioration of speech discrimination is more rapid in the unaided ears, when monaural tting is being used. According to Silman et al (1992) this occurs in 40% of the unaided ears.…”