İşitme Kayıplı Bireylerde Eşiküstü İşitsel İşlemleme Becerilerinin Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Our auditory performance that highly affecting our daily communication skills, depends on the integrity of peripheral hearing, auditory processing and cognitive processing systems. It’s determined that besides their decreasing auditory sensitivity, people with hearing loss can’t process temporal cues in suprathreshold sound sources and so they have some communication problems in the surroundings where there are more than one sound source or noise. It’s reported that a lot of auditory and cognitive functions are affected by aging and decreasing functional skills, affects communication skills in a negative way. In this study, it’s aimed to evaluate the effects of sensorineural hearing loss and age in speech in noise, suprathreshold auditory processing and cognitive processing skills, and to examine the relationship between speech in noise, suprathreshold auditory processing and cognitive processing. In accordance with this purpose, in the study group 10 individuals with hearing loss in the age range of 18-39 and 40-60 are included, and in the control group 10 normal hearing individuals in the age range of 18-39 and 40-60 are included. To the all participants, Turkish Matrix Test and Consonant Identification test that evaluating speech in noise skills, TFS Sensitivity Test that evaluating suprathreshold auditory processing skills, The Visual Aural Digit Span Test and Auditory Verbal Learning Test that evaluating cognitive skills are applied and compared. As a result of the study, in speech in noise tests and TFS Sensitivity Test, significant difference was found between the individuals with hearing loss and normal hearing individuals; young individuals with hearing loss and mid-aged individuals with hearing loss; normal hearing young individuals and normal hearing mid-aged individuals (p<0,05). While a significant difference was found between normal hearing young and mid-aged individuals in all cognitive tests (p<0,05), in some subtests a significant difference wasn’t found between other groups. A correlation was found between the speech in noise tests, suprathreshold auditory processing and cognitive processing tests. Also there is a correlation between suprathreshold auditory processing and cognitive processing tests. In the results of this study, it is observed that not only hearing loss but also age significantly affects auditory performance, and so the need for a more holistic approach has been emphasized for finding out the problems and the exact evaluation of listening skills or listening functions of the individuals with hearing loss and normal hearing individuals.