ISRCTN29932826.

ISRCTN29932826.

ISRCTN29932826.

Klausen O, Møller P, Holmefjord A, Reisaeter S, Asbjørnsen A. Lasting effects of otitis media with effusion on language skills and listening performance. Acta Otolaryngol 2000; Suppl 543: 73 -76.Otitis media with effusion (OME) and its related hearing loss has been associated with delayed language development, particularly if the disease is recurrent or of long duration. To find out more about the long-term effects of OME on language skills and listening performance we performed a retrospective study. A group of 19 otherwise healthy 9-year-old children with an earlier history of long lasting bilateral OME were compared with an age-matched control group of 19 children with no history of OME or hearing impairment and normal otoscopy, tympanometry and audiometry. The children in the OME group had an average of 1.4 treatments with ventilation tubes. Mean hearing levels for 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Hz in the OME group were 13 dB in the right ear and 11.3 dB in the left ear. All children were examined with the Illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities (ITPA), test for articulation, Boston naming test, dichotic listening tests with additional tasks of directed attention and tests for word and sound discrimination. In the OME group we found significant lower scores in the articulation test and small, but significant, lower scores in the test regarding sound discrimination. No significant differences on other language skills were detected in the ITPA test or Boston naming test. We found a significantly higher degree of right ear advantage and lower attentional effectiveness in the OME-group.

Dichotic listening performance was studied in children who at an early age had undergone a myringotomy with insertion of ventilating tubes for persistent middle ear infections (otitis media with effusion; OME) and compared with age-equivalent children who had no history of otitis media or hearing problems. The OME group consisted of 19 children with a median age of 9 years; 15 of whom were right-handed, and 14 were boys. The comparison sample comprised 18 children with a median age was 9 years 4 months. Hand preference and sex were matched with the OME group. Both groups were tested with dichotic listening to consonant-vowel syllables and additional forced-attention tasks. The comparison sample showed a weak right-ear advantage, and age-adequate attentional modulations. The children in the OME group showed a strong right-ear advantage, but were not able to modulate the ear advantage during directed-attention tasks. Models for interpreting the result are discussed.