Speech perception in noise in unilateral hearing loss.

INTRODUCTION

Unilateral hearing loss is characterized by a decrease of hearing in one ear only. In the presence of ambient noise, individuals with unilateral hearing loss are faced with greater difficulties understanding speech than normal listeners.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the speech perception of individuals with unilateral hearing loss in speech perception with and without competitive noise, before and after the hearing aid fitting process.

METHODS

The study included 30 adults of both genders diagnosed with moderate or severe sensorineural unilateral hearing loss using the Hearing In Noise Test - Hearing In Noise Test-Brazil, in the following scenarios: silence, frontal noise, noise to the right, and noise to the left, before and after the hearing aid fitting process.

RESULTS

The study participants had a mean age of 41.9 years and most of them presented right unilateral hearing loss. In all cases evaluated with Hearing In Noise Test, a better performance in speech perception was observed with the use of hearing aids.

CONCLUSION

Using the Hearing In Noise Test-Brazil test evaluation, individuals with unilateral hearing loss demonstrated better performance in speech perception when using hearing aids, both in silence and in situations with a competing noise, with use of hearing aids.