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"The Dichotic Digit Test" as an Index Indicator for Hearing Problem in Dementia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Nattawan Utoomprurkporn1,2, Chris J D Hardy3, Joshua Stott4
1UCL Ear Institute, Faculty of Brain Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
|December 9, 2020
Summary
Individuals with dementia exhibit impaired speech processing, performing worse on the dichotic digit test (DDT). This test may help predict dementia onset in early stages.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Speech Processing
Background:
- Dementia patients often struggle with speech processing amidst background noise.
- This speech processing deficit may be an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate if dementia patients perform worse on the dichotic digit test (DDT).
- To determine if DDT performance can predict dementia onset.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant studies.
- Inclusion criteria: dementia diagnosis vs. healthy controls, DDT free-recall task, DDT score or right-ear advantage as outcomes.
- Literature search across Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Psycinfo.
Main Results:
- Dementia patients showed significantly lower DDT total scores (pooled mean difference: 18.6%).
- Patients with dementia exhibited an increased right-ear advantage compared to controls (pooled difference: 24.4%).
Conclusions:
- Cognitively impaired individuals have reduced DDT scores and increased right-ear advantage.
- Score reductions and advantage increases correlate with cognitive impairment severity.
- Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm if DDT abnormalities predict dementia onset.
