Abstract
There is an increasing global recognition of the negative impact of hearing loss, and its association to many chronic health conditions. The deficits and disabilities associated with profound unilateral hearing loss, however, continue to be under-recognized and lack public awareness. Profound unilateral hearing loss significantly impairs spatial hearing abilities, which is reliant on the complex interaction of monaural and binaural hearing cues. Unilaterally deafened listeners lose access to critical binaural hearing cues. Consequently, this leads to a reduced ability to understand speech in competing noise and to localize sounds. The functional deficits of profound unilateral hearing loss have a substantial impact on socialization, learning and work productivity. In recognition of this, rehabilitative solutions such as the rerouting of signal and hearing implants are on the rise. This review focuses on the latest insights into the deficits of profound unilateral hearing impairment, and current treatment approaches.
Highlights
Hearing loss is the third leading cause of disability globally [1], with approximately 466 million people living with disabling hearing loss around the world [2]
This review explores the consequences of unilateral profound deafness and reviews treatment and rehabilitative strategies
This is achieved by placing a microphone behind or in the deaf ear to collect the sound and transmit it wirelessly to a receiver worn in the better ear (Figure 4)
Summary
Hearing loss is the third leading cause of disability globally [1], with approximately 466 million people living with disabling hearing loss around the world [2]. The estimated costs of this global health burden exceeds 750 billion U.S dollars annually, and is largely due to higher unemployment rates and lost work productivity [9] These estimates, do not take into account the proportion of adults with undiagnosed or unaddressed hearing loss, such as those with unilateral hearing impairment [10,11]. The etiology of SSD is widespread, including such pathologies as cochleovestibular abnormalities, temporal bone trauma, Meniere’s disease, vestibular schwannoma, vascular ischemia, autoimmune disorders and infections, it is commonly idiopathic in nature. Often, this loss can be sudden in onset, leaving the patient extremely debilitated [12,16]. The increased hearing handicap in this group is most strongly linked to deficits in spatial perception
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