Auditory deprivation and recovery in adults with asymmetric sensorineural hearing impairment

The purpose of this investigation was to investigate (1) whether auditory deprivation effects are present in the poorer ears of adults with asymmetric sensorineural hearing impairment and (2) whether, if such effects are present, they can be reversed by amplification. Subjects were 16 males with asymmetric sensorineural hearing impairment, 8 of whom had never been aided, 6 of whom were aided monaurally at the initial test, and 2 of whom were unaided at the initial test but aided monaurally later on. Data were obtained from a retrospective review of records. The initial and retest (2-13 years post initial test) suprathreshold speech-recognition scores for 50-word, taped lists of the CID W-22 PB words were analyzed. The results revealed a significant difference between the initial and retest mean suprathreshold speech-recognition scores for the poorer ears of the unaided subjects. The results also revealed no significant change from the initial test to retest in six of the aided ears and significant improvement from the initial test to retest in the two of the aided ears. The findings are discussed with reference to the theory of auditory deprivation and recovery from auditory deprivation by amplification.