Unilateral Hearing Loss Is Associated With Worse Speech-Language Scores in Children

Abstract

Objective To determine whether elementary school-aged children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) demonstrate significantly worse language skills than their sibling controls with normal hearing, and whether they are more likely to receive extra assistance or resources at school. Patients and Methods Case-control study of age 6-12 year old children with UHL compared with sibling controls (74 matched pairs, total n=148), all with normal cognition by parental report. Scores on the oral portion of the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS) were the primary outcome measure. Potential confounders were evaluated for their effect on the OWLS scores. Multivariable analysis was used to determine whether UHL independently predicted OWLS scores. Results Children with UHL had significantly worse language comprehension (91 vs. 98, P = 0.003), oral expression (94 vs. 101, P = 0.007), and oral composite (90 vs. 99, P <0.001) scores than their siblings with normal hearing. Multivariable regression models demonstrated that UHL was an independent predictor of these OWLS scores, with moderate effect sizes of 0.3 to 0.7. Family income and maternal education level were also independent predictors of oral expression and oral composite scores. No differences were found between children with right or left UHL, nor with varying severity of hearing loss. Children with UHL were more likely to have an Individualized Education Plan (OR 4.4, 95% CI 2.0-9.5) and to have received speech-language therapy (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.3-5.4). Conclusions School-aged children with UHL demonstrated worse oral language scores compared with siblings with normal hearing. These findings suggest that the common practice of withholding hearing-related accommodations from children with UHL should be reconsidered and studied, and that parents, pediatricians, and educators be informed about the deleterious effects of UHL on oral language skills.

Perda auditiva unilateral em crianças: avaliação fonológica e do vocabulário

“…The authors concluded that children with UHL present higher risk for socioemotional difficulties than children with normal hearing. Another study (11) that evaluated the linguistic abilities of children with UHL observed that they presented significantly lower results in the oral communication assessment than normal-hearing children subjects.…”

A Case of the Vibrant Soundbridge Implantation to Unilateral Congenital Aural Atresia

“…In daily living, they often complain of poor stereotactic sense due to the problem of head shadowing. Not only is the hearing aspect affected, but also children with unilateral hearing loss may have poorer oral expression and oral composition [10].…”

An approach to unilateral hearing loss

“…Aynı ailede tek taraflı işitme kaybı olan ve normal işiten çocukları karşılaştıran bir çalışmada işitme kaybı olan çocukların dil gelişiminde anlamlı gerilik saptanmıştır, ayrıca annenin eğitim düzeyi, ailenin sosyoekonomik durumu ve gelir düzeyi, çocukta ek sorunların olması, ileri/çok ileri işitme kaybı ve sağ taraflı işitme kaybı olması da bu gerilikle ilişkili anlamlı faktörler arasında yer almıştır. [11] …”