Speech Perception In Individuals Research Articles

Reabilitação auditiva com sistemas Baha® transcutâneo e percutâneo

ABSTRACT Purpose Longitudinally verify the influence of auditory tonal thresholds obtained with transcutaneous and percutaneous bone-anchored hearing aids on speech perception in individuals with external and/or middle ear malformation and chronic otitis media. Methods Observational, retrospective, longitudinal follow-up study of 30 unilateral users of the transcutaneous and percutaneous Baha® system for the collection of secondary data on pure tone thresholds obtained through free field audiometry and sentence recognition threshold in silence and noise in conditions: without the prosthesis; at the time of activation; in the first month of use (post 1); and in the third month (post 2). Results There was a significant difference between pure tone thresholds obtained at frequencies of 3 and 4kHz with better results for the percutaneous technique at all evaluation moments. For both systems, better performance was observed in sentence recognition in silence and in noise, with a significant difference in activation (p<0.001), but it remained stable during the other evaluation moments. The percutaneous system showed better benefit in recognizing sentences in noise only on activation (p=0.036), when compared to the transcutaneous system. Conclusion The percutaneous system provided better audibility for high frequencies; however, such audibility did not influence sentence recognition in the silent situation for both systems. For the noise situation, better responses were observed in the percutaneous system, however, the difference was not maintained over time.

Effective Duration of Auditory Training for Speech Perception in Hearing-Impaired Listeners: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to determine the effective duration of auditory training for hearing aid users and cochlear implant users and to identify factors that influence the effectiveness of auditory training.Methods: We searched literature published from January 1996 to August 2021 in Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library. A total of 24 studies that met the selection criteria were systematically reviewed and analyzed through meta-analysis. Standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.Results: The overall meta-analysis results for auditory training showed an effect size of -0.833, and the effect size was larger in “more than 600 minutes of auditory training” compared to “less than 600 minutes”. There was no statistically significant difference in effect size during follow-up observation after the completion of auditory training, with an effect size of 0.057 (95% CI: -0.113-0.112, <i>p</i>=0.988). Subgroup analysis showed that the effect size was larger in the “children” group than in the “adult” group. The effect size of auditory training was larger when the auditory training and measurement conditions were the same.Conclusions: Auditory training can improve speech perception in individuals wearing HA and/or CI, and the training effect was shown to be maintained even after the completion of auditory training. In addition, it was found that the longer the duration of auditory training (more than 10 hours), the greater the training effect.

The Effects of Monaural Stimulation on Frequency-Following Responses in Adults Who Can Sing in Tune and Those Who Cannot.

Introduction  Musicians have an advantage over non-musicians in detecting, perceiving, and processing nonverbal (i.e., environmental sounds, tones and others) and verbal sounds (i.e., consonant, vowel, phrases and others) as well as instrumental sounds. In contrast to the high skill of musicians, there is another group of people who are tone-deaf and have difficulty in distinguishing musical sounds or singing in tune. These sounds can originate in different ways, such as a musical instrument, orchestra, or the human voice. Objective  The objective of the present work is to study frequency-following responses (FFRs) in individuals who can sing in-tune and those who sing off-tune. Methods  Electrophysiological responses were recorded in 37 individuals divided in two groups: (i) control group (CG) with professional musicians, and (ii) experimental group (EG) with non-musicians. Results  There was homogeneity between the two groups regarding age and gender. The CG had more homogeneous responses in the latency of the FFRs waves when responses between the right and left ears were compared to those of the EG. Conclusion  This study showed that monaural stimulation (right or left) in an FFR test is useful for demonstrating impairment of speech perception in individuals who sing off tune. The response of the left ear appears to present more subtlety and reliability when identifying the coding of speech sound in individuals who sing off tune.

Speech Perception Performance in Cochlear Implant Recipients Correlates to the Number and Synchrony of Excited Auditory Nerve Fibers Derived From Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potentials.

Many studies have assessed the performance of individuals with cochlear implants (CIs) with electrically evoked compound action potentials (eCAPs). These eCAP-based studies have focused on the amplitude information of the response, without considering the temporal firing properties of the excited auditory nerve fibers (ANFs), such as neural latency and synchrony. These temporal features have been associated with neural health in animal studies and, consequently, could be of importance to clinical CI outcomes. With a deconvolution method, combined with a unitary response, the eCAP can be mathematically unraveled into the compound discharge latency distribution (CDLD). The CDLD reflects both the number and the temporal firing properties of excited ANFs. The present study aimed to determine to what extent the CDLD derived from intraoperatively recorded eCAPs is related to speech perception in individuals with CIs. This retrospective study acquired data on monosyllabic word recognition scores and intraoperative eCAP amplitude growth functions from 124 adult patients with postlingual deafness that received the Advanced Bionics HiRes 90K device. The CDLD was determined for each recorded eCAP waveform by deconvolution. Each of the two Gaussian components of the CDLD was described by three parameters: the amplitude, the firing latency (the average latency of each component of the CDLD), and the variance of the CDLD components (an indication of the synchronicity of excited ANFs). Apart from these six CDLD parameters, the area under the CDLD curve (AUCD) and the slope of the AUCD growth function were determined as well. The AUCD was indicative of the total number of excited ANFs over time. The slope of the AUCD growth function indicated the increases in the number of excited ANFs with stimulus level. Associations between speech perception and each of these eight CDLD-related parameters were investigated with linear mixed modeling. In individuals with CIs, larger amplitudes of the two CDLD components, greater AUCD, and steeper slopes of the AUCD growth function were all significantly associated with better speech perception. In addition, a smaller latency variance in the early CDLD component, but not in the late, was significantly associated with better speech recognition scores. Speech recognition was not significantly dependent on CDLD latencies. The AUCD and the slope of the AUCD growth function provided a similar explanation of the variance in speech perception (R 2 ) as the eCAP amplitude, the slope of the amplitude growth function, the amplitude, and variance of the first CDLD component. The results demonstrate that both the number and the neural synchrony of excited ANFs, as revealed by CDLDs, are indicative of postimplantation speech perception in individuals with a CI. Because the CDLD-based parameters yielded a higher significance than the eCAP amplitude or the AGF slope, the authors conclude that CDLDs can serve as a clinical predictor of the survival of ANFs and that they have predictive value for postoperative speech perception performance. Thus, it would be worthwhile to incorporate the CDLD into eCAP measures in future clinical applications.

Influence of Tinnitus-Control Sound Stimuli on Auditory Spectral and Temporal Resolution and Speech Perception in Hearing Aid Users

Background and Objectives: Hearing aids (HAs) with built-in sound generators can alleviate the discomfort of tinnitus in individuals with tinnitus and impaired hearing. However, it is unknown how tinnitus-control sound (TCS) affects speech perception in HA users. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of HA TCS on auditory spectral resolution, temporal resolution, and speech perception in individuals with tinnitus and impaired hearing. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 13 elderly listeners (62.38±8.44 years, seven males, six females) with tinnitus and impaired hearing who had been using a receiver-in-canal HA with a built-in sound generator in everyday life for more than 3 months. The following psychoacoustic measurements were performed: spectral-ripple discrimination (SRD), temporal modulation detection (TMD), and speech recognition threshold in noise. The results obtained with HA-only and HA plus TCS conditions were compared. Results: There were no significant differences in SRD and TMD between the HA-only and HA plus TCS conditions (p>0.05). However, the HA plus TCS conditions were associated with worse speech recognition than the HA-only conditions (p=0.027). Conclusions: TCS constrains speech perception in noise in individuals with tinnitus and impaired hearing, implying that the TCS introduces additional noise to existing tinnitus. Therefore, we recommend that individuals with tinnitus who use a HA with a built-in sound generator should turn off the sound generator in daily life, especially in noisy environments. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2021;32:202-211)

The effect of environmental noise on speech perception of individuals with sensorineural hearing loss: a prospective observational study

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> This study was done to identify the effect that environmental noises have on speech perception of individual with sensorineural hearing loss. The objectives were to develop evidence-based approach to support the need for sophisticated technology and to choose the better one for daily listening purposes of Hearing-Impaired individual to obtain a speech perception score when environmental noises are used as competing signal.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> The study was executed in three phases. In phase 1, developing a noise check list and recording the noise levels at different places by using sound level meter, in phase 2, analyzing the recorded noises into spectral and temporal distributions by using software and phase 3, testing the hearing loss individual’s syllables in the presence of recorded noises.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> For 0 dB signal to noise ratio (SNR), the mean scores for white noise and temple noise were higher than for other noise types. The bus and auto noise conditions also showed significant difference in values between them. For +10 dB SNR, speech scores obtained for audiometry noise differed statistically from only restaurant and traffic noise. The traffic noise being the poorest differed statistically from all other noise types. On the other end of range, restaurant noise showed highest speech scores.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The overall the scores were a lot higher for only restaurant noise and noise of travel in auto. These showed effect of masking release and that hearing impaired are better able to understand conversations in these situations at least.</p>

Effects of aging on speech perception of individuals with and without Parkinson disease

Purpose A majority of individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) experience speech changes over time. Due to limited understanding of factors utilized by untrained listeners to identify Parkinsonian speech at discourse level, the present study examined aging effects on perception of Parkinsonian speech by three different listener groups (younger, middle-aged, and older-aged adults). Methods The study included five speakers with PD and five age-and-gender matched healthy control speakers. A total of 60 listeners (younger adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults) completed perceptual ratings based on six speech variables (including pitch, pitch variability, loudness, speech rate, pauses, and understandability). In addition, all listeners predicted whether or not the speaker they had listened to had PD. Results Older-aged listeners demonstrated significantly less than ideal ratings for loudness and understandability compared to younger and middle-aged groups. The prediction of whether or not a speaker had PD was dependent on different speech dimensions. In addition, all listener groups correctly identified the speaker with the most advanced disease severity. Conclusions Older-aged listeners demonstrated changes in speech perception of individuals with and without PD during quiet listening conditions. In addition, all listener groups were perceptive of voice changes secondary to PD during the perceptual rating task. Listener groups demonstrated different trends with younger adults more likely to attribute any changes in speech to a disorder while older-aged adults more likely to accept the changes in speech as normal aging effects. Overall, the study provided evidence for potential listener-assisted or listener-based rehabilitation techniques for individuals with PD. Keywords: Perceptual speech ratings; Parkinson disease; Speakers with PD; Aging effects; Listener groups; Prediction of Parkinson disease

Duration of unilateral auditory deprivation is associated with reduced speech perception after cochlear implantation: A single-sided deafness study

Objective: Examine the relationship between duration of unilateral deafness and speech perception outcomes after cochlear implantation in adults with single-sided deafness.Methods: A systematic review of PubMed articles containing individual speech perception and duration of deafness data from single-sided deaf adults. Studies were selected for detailed review and duration of deafness and speech perception outcomes were extracted, with speech scores reported as percent correct. A linear regression as a function of study and length of deafness was performed.Results: A statistically significant negative effect of duration of unilateral deafness on speech perception was found, but there was substantial uncertainty regarding the strength of the effect.Discussion: Existing data make it difficult to either support or reject a hard 5- or 10-year unilateral auditory deprivation limit on cochlear implant (CI) candidacy for patients with single-sided deafness. This is because the totality of available data are consistent with a very small effect, perhaps negligible in practical terms, and just as consistent with a very large effect. Regardless of effect size, the present results have important basic implications. They suggest that unilateral sound deprivation may have a deleterious effect on auditory processing even though more central parts of the auditory system have continued to receive input from a contralateral normal ear.Conclusions: Speech perception scores in SSD patients are negatively correlated with duration of deafness, but the limited amount of data from cochlear implant users with long-term single-sided deafness leads to substantial uncertainly, which in turn precludes any strong clinical recommendations. Further study of SSD CI users with long-term deafness will be necessary to generate evidence-based guidelines for implantation criteria in this population.

Dynamics of Speech Perception in the Auditory-Visual Mode: An Empirical Evidence for the Management of Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorders.

Background and ObjectivesThe present study probed into the relative and combined contribution of auditory and visual modalities in the speech perception of individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders (ANSD). Specifically, the identification scores of consonant-vowel (CV) syllables, visual enhancement (VE), and auditory enhancement in different signal to noise ratios (SNRs) were compared with that of the control group.Subjects and MethodsThe study used a repeated measure standard group comparison research design. Two groups of individuals in the age range of 16 to 35 years participated in the study. The clinical group included 35 participants diagnosed as ANSD, while the control group had 35 age and gender matched individuals with typical auditory abilities. The participants were assessed for CV syllable identification in auditory only (A), visual only (V), and auditory-visual (AV) modalities. The syllables were presented in quiet and at 0 dB SNR.ResultsThe speech identification score was maximum in AV condition followed by A-condition and least in V condition. This was true in both the groups. The individuals with ANSD were able to make better use of visual cues than the control group, as evident in the VE score.ConclusionsThe dynamics of speech perception in the AV mode is different between ANSD and control. There is definite benefit of auditory as well as visual cues to individuals with ANSD, suggesting the need to facilitate both the modalities as part of the audiological rehabilitation. Future studies can focus on independently facilitating the two modalities and testing the benefits in the AV mode of speech perception in individuals with ANSD.

Speech Perception in Quiet and in Noise Condition in Individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder.

The study investigated the effect of noise on syllable perception in individuals with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) and compared that with the normal hearing individuals. A total of 54 participants were considered, out of which 26 individuals were diagnosed with ANSD and 28 with normal hearing sensitivity. Syllable identification and discrimination were assessed in both the groups in quiet as well as +10 dB SNR. All the individuals with ANSD performed poorer on syllable identification and syllable discrimination tasks compared to individuals with normal hearing. Information transfer and d-prime analyses revealed that noise affects the perception of voicing information in individuals with ANSD compared to place and manner information. Among the consonants tested, /pa/ was more resistant to noise. Noise had deleterious effects on speech perception in individuals with ANSD. Low-frequency information appears to be more susceptible to the effects of noise in individuals with ANSD.

Performance-Intensity Function and Aided Improvement in Individuals With Late-Onset Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder.

The purpose of the study was to explore the effect of intensity on speech perception in individuals with late-onset auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) by obtaining their performance-intensity (PI) function. Additionally, the study investigated the effect of PI function on aided speech perception. It was hypothesized that speech perception abilities of individuals with ANSD vary with intensity and may provide information regarding their aided performance. A factorial research design was used to obtain the PI function and aided performance. Thirty individuals with late-onset ANSD in the age range of 14 to 42 years were evaluated. All the participants had bilateral mild to moderately-severe symmetrical hearing loss and were naive hearing aid users. A PI function was obtained for each participant for phonemically-balanced words. Further, aided performance was evaluated for binaural digital hearing aids fitted using the National Acoustic Laboratories-Non-linear 1 method. It was found that the sensation level at which maximum word recognition scores were obtained varied across the participants. However, the majority of the participants had maximum scores below 30 dB SL. A large number of participants had a rollover PI function where the word recognition scores deteriorated with increase in presentation level. However, a few individuals demonstrated improvement in word recognition scores with increase in presentation level. Rollover index calculated from the PI function clearly demarcated those who had improved speech perception with hearing aids from those who did not. It was found that those with a rising pattern had aided speech identification scores that were significantly higher than their unaided scores. No such difference was found in those with a rollover. Further, aided benefit calculated by obtaining the difference between the aided and unaided scores was significantly higher in those with a rising PI function than those with a rollover function. The word recognition scores of individuals with ANSD varied with sensation level. This implies that obtaining the word recognition scores at a single presentation level may not accurately represent the speech perception abilities of those with ANSD. Further, a PI function helps differentiate those individuals with ANSD who benefit from hearing aids from those who do not.

Temporal plasticity in auditory cortex improves neural discrimination of speech sounds

BackgroundMany individuals with language learning impairments exhibit temporal processing deficits and degraded neural responses to speech sounds. Auditory training can improve both the neural and behavioral deficits, though significant deficits remain. Recent evidence suggests that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with rehabilitative therapies enhances both cortical plasticity and recovery of normal function. Objective/HypothesisWe predicted that pairing VNS with rapid tone trains would enhance the primary auditory cortex (A1) response to unpaired novel speech sounds. MethodsVNS was paired with tone trains 300 times per day for 20 days in adult rats. Responses to isolated speech sounds, compressed speech sounds, word sequences, and compressed word sequences were recorded in A1 following the completion of VNS-tone train pairing. ResultsPairing VNS with rapid tone trains resulted in stronger, faster, and more discriminable A1 responses to speech sounds presented at conversational rates. ConclusionThis study extends previous findings by documenting that VNS paired with rapid tone trains altered the neural response to novel unpaired speech sounds. Future studies are necessary to determine whether pairing VNS with appropriate auditory stimuli could potentially be used to improve both neural responses to speech sounds and speech perception in individuals with receptive language disorders.

Deep band modulated phrase perception in quiet and noise in individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder and sensorineural hearing loss.

Context:Deep band modulation (DBM) improves speech perception in individuals with learning disability and older adults, who had temporal impairment in them. However, it is unclear on perception of DBM phrases at quiet and noise conditions in individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), as these individuals suffer from temporal impairment.Aim:The aim is to study the effect of DBM and noise on phrase perception in individuals with normal hearing, SNHL, and ANSD.Settings and Design:A factorial design was used to study deep-band-modulated phrase perception in quiet and at noise.Materials and Methods:Twenty participants in each group (normal, SNHL, and ANSD) were included to assess phrase perception on four lists of each unprocessed (UP) and DBM phrases at different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) (−1, −3, and −5 dB SNR), which were presented at most comfortable level. In addition, a temporal processing was determined by gap detection threshold test.Statistical Analysis:A mixed analysis of variance was used to investigate main and interaction effects of conditions, noise, and groups. Further, a Pearson product moment correlation was used to document relationship between phrase perception and temporal processing among study participants in each experimental condition.Results:In each group, a significant improvement was observed in DBM phrase perception over UP phrase recognition in quiet and noise conditions. Although a significant improvement was observed, the benefit of recognition from DBM over UP is negligible at −5 dB SNR in both SNHL and ANSD groups. In addition, as expected, a significant improvement in phrase perception in each condition was found in normal hearing than SNHL followed by ANSD. Further, in both atypical groups, a strong negative correlation was found between phrase perception and gap detection threshold in each of the experimental condition.Conclusion:This is to conclude that temporal envelope cues from DBM were made available for phrase perception in those individuals who have temporal impairment.

The effect of semantic predictability on word intelligibility in natural and spectrally degraded sentences

One of the most consistent findings across a wide range of methodologies and stimuli is the positive effect of semantic context and predictability on speech intelligibility. However, there is evidence that this may not be true for a limited range of stimuli. The present study investigated how sentences with spectrally-limited acoustic information constrained the use of semantic predictability in speech perception. This was studied by presenting listeners with spectrally-degraded and natural-speech sentences with high- and low-predictability words. The SPIN sentence lists and the associated multi-talker babble was used (Bilger, 1984). The results demonstrated that listeners benefited from high predictability in both cases but the degree of this effect was not equal. High predictability aided the perception of natural and 8-band speech equally. In contrast high predictability had a significantly smaller effect on speech intelligibility for 4-band speech. These findings are of special interest to investigations of speech perception in individuals with poor frequency representation such as those with cochlear implants.

Amplification strategy to enhance speech perception in individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder

Objective: The present study was conducted to determine if low-cut modified amplification improved aided speech perception compared to standard NAL-NL1 prescriptive amplification in individuals with ANSD. The study further aimed to check the influence of the number of channels in a hearing aid on speech perception with low-cut modification of amplification. Study design: A total of 22 individuals with ANSD in the age range 15–42 years were recruited for the study. The unaided and aided speech identification scores were obtained with standard amplification and low-cut amplification settings in both a four- and a 16-channel digital hearing aid. Results: The results showed that low-cut amplification was slightly better than standard amplification for aided speech perception. Such an improvement could be attributed to the elimination of upward spread of masking during low-cut modification of amplification. In addition, improvement was greater with a four-channel hearing aid compared to a 16-channel hearing aid. Conclusions: The use of low-cut amplification with a low number of channels in the hearing aid for individuals with ANSD is recommended. However, further studies are essential to determine whether the slight improvement in aided scores with a low-cut fitting strategy leads to actual improvement in quality of life.

Auditory Speech Perception Tests in Relation to the Coding Strategy in Cochlear Implant.

Introduction  The objective of the evaluation of auditory perception of cochlear implant users is to determine how the acoustic signal is processed, leading to the recognition and understanding of sound.Objective  To investigate the differences in the process of auditory speech perception in individuals with postlingual hearing loss wearing a cochlear implant, using two different speech coding strategies, and to analyze speech perception and handicap perception in relation to the strategy used.Methods  This study is prospective cross-sectional cohort study of a descriptive character. We selected ten cochlear implant users that were characterized by hearing threshold by the application of speech perception tests and of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults.Results  There was no significant difference when comparing the variables subject age, age at acquisition of hearing loss, etiology, time of hearing deprivation, time of cochlear implant use and mean hearing threshold with the cochlear implant with the shift in speech coding strategy. There was no relationship between lack of handicap perception and improvement in speech perception in both speech coding strategies used.Conclusion  There was no significant difference between the strategies evaluated and no relation was observed between them and the variables studied.

Elevated depressive symptoms associate with an emotion-general deficit in speech perception at a cocktail party

Individuals with major depressive disorder demonstrate significant deficits in social communication. While the majority of work on individuals with elevated depressive symptoms focuses on speech production, much less is known about speech perception in individuals with elevated depressive symptoms. Here, we examine speech perception in the presence of different types of distractions. Two forms of distraction are hypothesized to interfere with speech perception in such listening conditions: energetic masking (EM) and information masking (IM). Relative to EM, IM places greater demands on executive function. A recent study showed that individuals with elevated depressive symptoms exhibit a selective deficit in perception of neutral speech during primarily IM conditions, likely due to their impairments in executive function. Here, we examined whether this selective deficit extends to emotional speech that portrays anger, fear, happiness, or sadness. Results showed that during IM conditions, individuals with elevated depressive symptoms exhibited poorer performance for neutral as well as for the four emotion categories, compared with those without elevated depression symptoms. However, both groups performed comparably during EM conditions. These findings suggest that elevated depressive symptoms are associated with an emotion-general deficit in speech perception in noise conditions that place demands on executive function.

Influence of depressive symptoms on speech perception in adverse listening conditions

It is widely acknowledged that individuals with elevated depressive symptoms exhibit deficits in inter-personal communication. Research has primarily focused on speech production in individuals with elevated depressive symptoms. Little is known about speech perception in individuals with elevated depressive symptoms, especially in challenging listening conditions. Here, we examined speech perception in young adults with low- or high-depressive (HD) symptoms in the presence of a range of maskers. Maskers were selected to reflect various levels of informational masking (IM), which refers to cognitive interference due to signal and masker similarity, and energetic masking (EM), which refers to peripheral interference due to signal degradation by the masker. Speech intelligibility data revealed that individuals with HD symptoms did not differ from those with low-depressive symptoms during EM, but they exhibited a selective deficit during IM. Since IM is a common occurrence in real-world social settings, this listening deficit may exacerbate communicative difficulties.

Auditory neuropathy in individuals with Type 1 diabetes.

Peripheral neuropathy is a major consequence of diabetes mellitus with up to 50 % of patients showing clinically significant neural injury during the disease course. Hearing loss (as defined by impaired sound detection thresholds) is a recognized symptom of DM, but the possibility of auditory neuropathy (AN) has not been explored in this population. This pilot study investigated peripheral auditory function, auditory processing and speech perception in individuals with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and compared the findings with measures of vestibular function, ocular pathology/visual acuity and overall neurologic profile. Ten adults with T1DM and ten matched controls underwent a battery of tests which included: audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, auditory brainstem responses, temporal processing measures and speech perception. Six of the ten T1DM participants showed electrophysiologic evidence of AN and impaired functional hearing. Furthermore, auditory capacity was correlated with both visual acuity and degree of somatic peripheral neuropathy. This pilot investigation revealed functional-hearing deficits severe enough to impact upon everyday communication. Should the findings be confirmed by larger studies, auditory evaluation may form an important part of the management regimen for individuals with T1DM. This may be especially important for those with DM-related eye conditions, as deficits across multiple sensory modalities can have multiplicative detrimental effects on quality-of-life.

Assessment of telephone speech perception in individuals who received cochlear implant in the period 1993-2003

To evaluate telephone speech perception in individuals who received cochlear implant in the period 1993-2003. Twenty seven CI users were divided into pre and post-lingual groups, being the speech perception assessed in two stages: first by a list of sentences imposed on speakerphone with the same mapping used to evaluate the phone and, in a second stage, using the landline, landline phone adapter with CI and cell phone. In the group of pre-lingual hearing loss, 75% of subjects were able to maintain a dialogue with the interlocutor and 19% did so with difficulty. In the post-lingual group, 89% were able to maintain the dialogue with the interlocutor and 11% did so with difficulty. Both groups of subjects pre and post-lingual use the phone as a media, and most have satisfactory performance without the need for aid or CI accessories. One of the benefits of the CI is to introduce the life of the hearing impaired phone use regardless of their technology and accessories, as well as with the phone adapter and cell phone. In this study, most individuals CI users showed satisfactory performance in the comprehension of sentence and questions by the telephone, with better performance, although discrete, for the group post-lingual. Thus, there is the importance of careful indication of the IC and auditory rehabilitation program that minimize the impact of deafness in the communication, especially via telephone, regardless of the time when the hearing was acquired. So, this fact improves the conditions for CI users to maintain their daily activities, following the dynamism of contemporary life.