PURPOSE: To evaluate the hearing behavior of figure-to-ground and temporal resolution, and the self-perception of limitations on communicative activities of children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss. METHODS: Participants were 38 individuals, with ages between 8 and 19 years, divided into: experimental group (with unilateral hearing loss) and control group (normal-hearing individuals), each comprising 19 individuals, matched according to gender, age and educational level. All subjects carried out anamnesis, audiological evaluation, and the procedures of study: a self-report questionnaire of limitations on communicative activities, and the auditory processing tests Gaps-in-Noise and Pediatric Speech Intelligibility Test. Statistical analysis was conducted using non-parametric tests. RESULTS: In the experimental group the unilateral hearing loss was profound in most participants, having started during the pre-school stage, with unknown or identified etiologies (e.g. meningitis, traumas, mumps and measles). Most subjects presented learning difficulties complaints, and showed predominantly moderate limitations on communicative activities, mainly in noisy situations. The worst results were observed in the experimental group, both for the thresholds of gap detection and the Pediatric Speech Intelligibility Test carried out in the normal ear. There was no significant correlation between the thresholds of gap detection on the normal ear and the side of the ear with hearing loss. CONCLUSION: Individuals with unilateral hearing loss present limitations on communicative activities, especially in noisy environments, associated with worse auditory processing abilities of temporal resolution and figure-to-ground.
Unilateral Hearing loss, unilateral; Hearing; Hearing tests; Auditory perception; Hearing disorders
