Relationship between Auditory Processing Disorder and Hearing Aid Benefit in Elderly Subjects

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the effect of deficit in temporal resolution and binaural integration on benefit derived from hearing aid in elderly subjects with hearing loss. Subjects consisted of fifteen elderly individuals (aged>55years) with hearing loss not exceeding 55d BHL. Gap detection test, temporal modulation transfer function test, and dichotic digit test were administered to check for temporal resolution and binaural integration. For hearing aid benefit assessment aided audio gram, aided speech identification in quiet as well as scores on a self-assessment scale with and without hearing aid condition was investigated. Results revealed a deficit in temporal resolution and binaural integration in majority of the individuals. However the results of auditory processing tests showed insignificant correlation with all the three hearing aid outcome measures.