[Attention network function and its influencing factors in patients with sensorineural hearing loss]

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of attention network function and its related factors in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) patients. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. 116 patients with binaural severe or higher SNHL who were hospitalized in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January to July 2023 were selected by the objective sampling method, including 54 males and 62 females, aged from 4 to 56 years old. Demographic data such as patient gender, age, education level, place of residence, per capita monthly family income, caregiver's education level and audiological and clinical data such as air conduction pure tone hearing threshold, age when hearing loss was first detected, whether hearing loss was gradually aggravated, hearing compensation mode, hearing compensation time, whether to participate in rehabilitation training, and rehabilitation time were collected through the general data questionnaire. The Attention Network Test was used to investigate three attention network functions in SNHL patients: alertness, orientation and executive control. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Univariate analysis showed that patients with postlingual deafness had lower executive control network score, patients with postlingual deafness, hearing loss gradually aggravated, hearing aid compensation, compensation time >5 years, and no rehabilitation learning had faster average response time, and patients with postlingual deafness, compensation time >5 years, and no rehabilitation learning had higher average accuracy (P<0.05 for all). The results of multivariate analysis showed that patients aged 13-18 years, postlingual deafness and compensation time >5 years had faster average response time, and patients with compensation time >5 years and no rehabilitation learning had higher average accuracy (P<0.05 for all). Conclusions: There is a general decline in attentional function and delayed development in patients with severe and above SNHL. No matter what mode of hearing compensation, timely and long-term hearing compensation intervention after hearing loss can effectively improve the attention network function, while the patients who do not participate in rehabilitation learning may improve their response accuracy by inhibiting interference and enhancing audio-visual interaction.