Benefits of Cartilage Conduction Hearing Aids for Speech Perception in Unilateral Aural Atresia.

Sakie Akasaka,Hiroshi Hosoi,Ryota Shimokura,Chihiro Morimoto,Tadashi Nishimura,Osamu Saito,Tadashi Kitahara

doi:10.3390/audiolres11020026

Sakie Akasaka, Hiroshi Hosoi + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres11020026

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Journal: Audiology research	Publication Date: Jun 17, 2021
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Nara Medical University, Osaka University

Abstract

Severe conductive hearing loss due to unilateral aural atresia leads to auditory and developmental disorders, such as difficulty in hearing in challenging situations. Bone conduction devices compensate for the disability but unfortunately have several disadvantages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits of cartilage conduction (CC) hearing aids for speech perception in unilateral aural atresia. Eleven patients with unilateral aural atresia were included. Each participant used a CC hearing aid in the atretic ear. Speech recognition scores in the binaural hearing condition were obtained at low speech levels to evaluate the contribution of aided atretic ears to speech perception. Speech recognition scores were also obtained with and without presentation of noise. These assessments were compared between the unaided and aided atretic ear conditions. Speech recognition scores at low speech levels were significantly improved under the aided atretic ear condition (p < 0.05). A CC hearing aid in the unilateral atretic ear did not significantly improve the speech recognition score in a symmetrical noise presentation condition. The binaural hearing benefits of CC hearing aids in unilateral aural atresia were predominantly considered a diotic summation. Other benefits of binaural hearing remain to be investigated.

Highlights

Unilateral hearing deficit deprives individuals of the benefits of binaural hearing naturally present in individuals with normal hearing and disturbs auditory development [1,2,3,4]
Bone conduction (BC) hearing aids are effective in atretic ears and are used instead of Air conduction (AC) hearing aids in individuals with aural atresia
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Summary

Introduction

Unilateral hearing deficit deprives individuals of the benefits of binaural hearing naturally present in individuals with normal hearing and disturbs auditory development [1,2,3,4]. Auditory intervention is required for unilateral hearing disability as well as for binaural disability. Air conduction (AC) hearing aids are usually used as an intervention device in most individuals with hearing loss. Bone conduction (BC) hearing aids are effective in atretic ears and are used instead of AC hearing aids in individuals with aural atresia. Its alternatives include implantable BC devices [7,8,9,10], which require surgical intervention. For most patients with unilateral aural atresia, these options are not desired

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