J Am Acad Audiol 1999; 10(10): 529-534
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748543
Original Article

Onset of Auditory Deprivation

Raymond M. Hurley
Department of Communication Disorders, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
› Author Affiliations

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to study further the assertion that auditory function deteriorates in the unaided ear of individuals with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) who receive monaural hearing aid fittings. The word recognition scores (WRSs) of 77 monaurally and 65 binaurally fitted subjects with symmetric bilateral SNHL were examined at 1, 3, and 5 years post hearing aid fitting. The deterioration in auditory function was defined as a significant change in the WRSs for Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6 (NU-6) materials in the unaided ear of individuals fitted with a monaural hearing aid arrangement. Analyses of the data indicate that 25 percent of the monaurally fitted subjects experienced a significant change in the WRSs of their unaided ears, whereas only 6 percent of the binaurally fitted subjects experienced a significant change in the WRSs of either ear. Auditory function does deteriorate in the unaided ears of individuals with SNHL who receive monaural hearing aid fittings. Moreover, the decline in auditory function of the unaided ear does not result from a decrease in hearing sensitivity.

Abbreviations: NU-6 = Northwestern University Auditory Test No. 6, PTA = pure-tone average, SNHL = sensorineural hearing loss, WRS = word recognition score



Publication History

Article published online:
09 May 2022

© 1999. American Academy of Audiology. This article is published by Thieme.

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