Auditory difficulties in blast-exposed Veterans with clinically normal hearing.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Audiology
• Military Medicine

Background:

• Blast injuries in military personnel can lead to persistent postconcussive symptoms.
• Many veterans report hearing issues, like difficulty understanding speech in noise, without peripheral auditory deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess auditory problems in blast-exposed Veterans using self-report and performance-based measures.
• To investigate the nature and extent of auditory processing deficits in this population.

Main Methods:

• 99 blast-exposed Veterans completed self-report questionnaires and performance-based tests.
• Auditory difficulties were assessed in various listening situations, including speech in noise and binaural processing.

Main Results:

• All participants reported auditory problems in challenging listening environments, despite clinically normal hearing.
• Participants demonstrated deficits in speech understanding in noise, binaural processing, temporal resolution, and speech segregation.
• Approximately 53% performed abnormally on 3-6 out of 10 auditory measures.

Conclusions:

• Blast injury appears to cause damage to the central auditory system.
• Task-specific auditory deficits are evident in blast-exposed Veterans, contributing to reported hearing difficulties.