The hearing in noise test (HINT) is currently available in several languages (Nilsson et al., 1994). The similarity of the procedures and the resulting similarity of the test materials makes the measures obtained with the HINT comparable across languages. Individuals from both genders, in the age range of 18Á50 years, with hearing thresholds 20 dB HL or better at the octave frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz, for both ears, who were native speakers of the Portuguese spoken in Brazil participated in this study. Method and Results Preparation of test materialsInitially, 1700 sentences were compiled via three different methods: (1) A survey of the corpus of Brazilian Portuguese available in the CHILDES (child language data exchange system) database was completed (Murari, 2004). The 50 000-word list was assessed by speech pathologists from various states of Brazil, and the words agreed upon by all participants were considered*regional vocabulary that might have a confusing meaning in some regions was excluded (Costa, 1997). (2) The Latin American Spanish HINT materials were analysed. (3) Spontaneous dialogue with daily phrases and vocabulary for subjects whose native language is Brazilian Portuguese, regardless of their background or education level, was recorded.After the sentences were selected, 10 subjects were asked to assess the familiarity of the sentences, grading them on a scale of 0 to 7, scoring the most familiar and natural as 7 and the most artificial as 0. Finally, of the 1700 sentences, the sentences with scores of 6 and 7 were further evaluated, and 800 were selected for use in the study. Two centers participated in the research: Universidade de Sao Paulo, Bauru (USP) and Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas (UNICAMP). The selected sentences were recorded at House Ear Institute, Los Angeles by a professional Brazilian voice actor. Estimation of the performance-intensity functionTwelve subjects were evaluated (six at USP and six at UNI-CAMP) in order to estimate the performance-intensity (PI) function. From the existing speech material, six lists of 50 sentences, totaling 300 sentences (three lists for each center), and a masking noise with the same sentence frequency spectrum were produced. Noise intensity was constant at 65 dBA, with the following variations of signal to noise ratios (S/N ratios):(7 dB, (4 dB, and (2 dB, for all lists tested. The correct words were counted, and this number resulted in an intelligibility percentage, for each list, at every S/N ratio. The average slope of the PI function for the two centers was 11.4% per dB change in S/N ratio. Equalization of sentence difficultySentence equalization from the S/N ratio corresponding to 70% of speech intelligibility was subdivided into three rounds with 20 subjects for each round (10 from USP and 10 from UNICAMP). For each round, 16 lists containing 50 sentences each, totaling 800 sentences (eight lists for each center), were used. On the first round, the noise intensity was fixed at 65 dBA, and the S/N ratio for all sentences presen...

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the results indicate the effectiveness of the training program for community health agents of a Family Health Program with the use of texts and with an interactive approach.

videoconference was effective as a learning tool for the training of community health agents on child hearing health. However, this instrument should be used as a complementary material to the traditional form of training.

Background: prematurity as a risk factor for delay in language development. Aim: to verify the performance of premature children regarding their receptive and expressive auditory and visual abilities. Method: participants were 40 children with chronological ages between 12 and 24 months. The experimental group (G1) was composed by 20 children who presented report of prematurity and low or very low weight. The birth age varied from 22 to 34 weeks and weight was below 2500gr. This group was divided according to weight, i.e. children with low and very low weight. The control group (G2) was composed by 20 children born at term, with weight above 2500gr and with no report of development delay. The procedures consisted of an interview with the parents and the application of the Early Language Milestone Scale -ELM. Results: when comparing the groups, the results indicate statistically significant differences. Children of G1 presented a poorer performance in the Expressive Hearing (EH), Receptive Hearing (RH) and Visual (V) areas, although a few children of this group presented the expected results for their age group in some of the tested abilities. The expressive auditory ability was the most affected. Conclusion: children of G1 presented deficits in the expressive and receptive auditory and visual functions. Premature children with very low weight presented higher deficits in the tested abilities. Key Words: Premature; Child Development; Child Language; Language Disorders. ResumoTema: prematuridade como fator de risco para atraso no desenvolvimento da linguagem. Objetivo: verificar o desempenho de crianças prematuras quanto às áreas auditiva receptiva, expressiva e visual. Método: participaram da amostra 40 crianças de idade cronológica entre 12 e 24 meses. O grupo experimental (G1) foi composto por 20 crianças que apresentaram em seu histórico de vida os fatores de risco prematuridade e baixo peso ou muito baixo peso. A idade gestacional das crianças variou de 22 a 34, semanas todas com peso abaixo de 2500g; este grupo foi dividido em função do peso, ou seja, crianças de baixo peso e de muito baixo peso. O grupo controle (G2) foi composto por 20 crianças nascidas a termo com peso superior a 2500g, sem histórico para atraso do desenvolvimento. Os procedimentos constaram de entrevista com os pais e aplicação da Escala Early Language Milestone Scale (ELM). Resultados: na comparação entre grupos, os resultados mostraram ser estatisticamente significativos. As crianças do G1 apresentaram prejuízo na área auditiva expressiva, auditiva receptiva e visual, embora algumas crianças tivessem apresentado resultados esperados para sua faixa etária, em alguma das funções avaliadas. A área mais prejudicada foi a área expressiva. Conclusão: as crianças do G1 apresentaram alteração nas áreas auditiva receptiva, auditiva expressiva e visual. As crianças prematuras com muito baixo peso apresentaram maiores prejuízos nas áreas avaliadas.

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Background: the long latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEP) provide objective data about the function of hearing cortical structures. Aim: to characterize the maturation of the central hearing system in normally hearing children. Method: record of LLAEP of fifty-six subjects with hearing tresholds within normal limits, of both genders, being 46 children and 10 adults. With the availability of two recording channels, one was directed to register the LLAEP and the other, to record the artifact generated by ocular movement, aiming at its control. The potentials were recorded with subjects in an alert state, through electrodes positioned in Cz (active) and A2 (reference), and the ocular movements, through electrodes in the left supra and infra-orbital positions; the ground electrode was placed in A1. The morphology and the values of latency and of amplitude for components P1, N1 and P2, according to age, were analyzed. In order to verify the reproducibility of the recorded potentials, a double blind study was carried out, by introducing the analysis of another evaluator. Results: the double blind study did not present statistically significant differences between the analyses. With the increase in age there was an improvement in the morphology and a decrease in the latency values of components P1, N1 and P2. Also there was a decrease in the amplitude of component P1 and no variation in the amplitude values was observed for components N1 and P2. No statistically significant difference was observed between genders. Conclusion: the maturational process of the central hearing system occurs gradually, being the greatest changes observed when comparing children and adults. Key Words: Hearing; Maturation; Auditory Evoked Potentials. ResumoTema: os potenciais evocados auditivos de longa latência (PEALLs) fornecem dados objetivos sobre a funcionalidade das estruturas centrais auditivas. Objetivo: caracterizar a maturação do sistema auditivo central em crianças com audição normal. Método: registro dos PEALLs de 56 indivíduos ouvintes normais, de ambos os sexos, sendo 46 crianças e 10 adultos. Com a disponibilidade de dois canais de registro, um foi destinado à captação dos PEALLs e outro, ao registro do artefato gerado pelo movimento ocular, visando ao seu controle. Os potenciais foram registrados com os indivíduos em estado de alerta, por meio de eletrodos posicionados em Cz (ativo) e A2 (referência) e os movimentos oculares, por eletrodos em posição supra e infra-orbital esquerda; o eletrodo terra foi colocado em A1. Foram analisados a morfologia e os valores de latência e amplitude dos componentes P1, N1 e P2, de acordo com a idade. Para verificar a reprodutibilidade dos registros, foi realizado um estudo duplo-cego com a introdução da análise de outra avaliadora. Resultados: o estudo duplo-cego não mostrou diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre as análises. Com o avanço da idade, houve melhora na morfologia e diminuição nos valores de latência dos componentes P1, N1 e P2. O componente P1 teve sua ampl...

High-frequency audiometry: study with normal audiological subjects Resumo / SummaryPesqui sas recentes apontam a Audiometria Tonal de Alta .reqüência (AT-A.) como um instrumento para o diagnóstico precoce de danos auditivos decorrentes de alguns agentes etiológicos principais, como envelhecimento e exposição a drogas ototóxicas e a intensidades elevadas de ruído. Objetivo: Apesar de já existirem várias técnicas desenvolvidas para essa avaliação, algumas não se aplicam à rotina clínica, em função da falta de praticidade e, por vezes, falta de consistên-cia nos resultados. Segundo a literatura, ainda estão por emergir uma metodologia adequada a tal avaliação e valores indicados como referência à normalidade. .orma de Estudo: Clí-nico prospectivo. Material e método: A presente pesquisa observou o comportamento dos limiares auditivos de alta freqüência em indivíduos jovens e audiologicamente normais e analisou variabilidades acústicas, inter e intra-indivíduos, que de acordo com a literatura, podem interferir na estabilidade dos resultados. Conclusão: Com os dados obtidos, pôde-se estabelecer valores de média, desvio padrão e mediana, além de valores mínimos e máximos para cada freqüência. Os testes estatísticos não identificaram diferenças significantes na maioria das análises realizadas (entre sexo, interaurais, variabilidades acústicas e intra-indivíduos, no mesmo dia de testes). A variabilidade dos resultados entre os exames de um mesmo indivíduo, realizados em dias deferentes de testes, mostrou ser significante, sendo as médias dos limiares no segundo dia sempre melhores que as do primeiro dia.