The study of responses to auditory processing tests in the elderly

Abstract

Objective: to generate reference values for different central auditory processing tests, investigating the influence of peripheral hearing and considering education and cognition, in the elderly. Methods: a prospective, quantitative and cross-sectional study. The casuistry consisted of 23 elderly, aged between 60 and 81 years old, being 8 men and 14 women. Regarding the audiological characteristics, the elderly were included with normal auditory thresholds or mild and moderate sensorineural hearing loss, classified by the quadritonal average, proposed by the World Health Organization. All elderly underwent Basic Audiological Evaluation, Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, Mini Mental State Examination, and seven central auditory behavioral tests. Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. Results: the Adapted Time-Compressed Speech Test was influenced by the peripheral hearing loss, in both ears (p-value = 0,000), and no significant differences were found in the other data analyzed. Conclusion: reference values were generated for the different behavioral tests. Hearing loss influenced the results of the Adapted Time-Compressed Speech Test, suggesting that it should not be applied in the elderly with peripheral alteration. Regarding education and cognition, there was a similarity among the elderly with normal hearing thresholds and those presented with hearing loss.

Achados clínicos fonoaudiológicos em adolescente com diabetes melittus tipo I: relato de caso

“…Aos 11 anos e um mês de idade, 'A' realizou a avaliação de processamento auditivo. Foram realizados os seguintes testes comportamentais da função auditiva periférica e central: Syntetic Sentence Identification (SSI) 17 ipsilateral (MCI) 17 , Pitch Pattern Sequences (PPS) 18 , Masking Level Difference (MLD) 19,20 , Randon Gap Detection Test (RGDT) 20,21 e Teste Dicótico de Digítos (TDD) 21 . Como resultado observou-se alteração nas habilidades de ordenação e resolução temporal, e separação e integração binaural.…”