Hearing aid fitting and unilateral auditory deprivation: behavioral and electrophysiologic assessment

The phenomenon of Late-Onset Unilateral Auditory Deprivation was first reported in 1984. However, a high number of unilateral hearing aid fittings are still carried out in cases of bilateral hearing loss, justified by non-auditory factors such as cost, vanity, misinformation and public health policies. OBJECTIVE: To carry out behavioral and electrophysiological assessment of the auditory performance of adults using unilateral amplification compared with individuals exposed to bilateral symmetric auditory stimulation. METHOD: Thirty five adults, all with symmetric bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, regular users of unilateral hearing aid, bilateral hearing aids and not users of hearing aids, were assessed on behavioral and electrophysiological tests. RESULTS: Variance analysis revealed that in the unilaterally fitted group, P300 latency was significantly greater in ears with auditory deprivation compared with those fitted with the hearing aid (p < 0.05). This same group also had poorer performance on the Sentence Recognition Test in Noise held in free field. CONCLUSION: These results corroborate findings in the literature showing that unilateral auditory deprivation can lead to physiological and perceptual changes.