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Objectives/hypothesis: The aim was to examine short- and long-term efficacy of the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) on adults with single-sided deafness., Study Design: Prospective investigation., Methods: The outcome measures included the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT), Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB), and Single-Sided Deafness Questionnaire (SSD). The BAHA group comprised seven adults with single-sided deafness and the control group comprised 20 adults with essentially normal-hearing sensitivity, bilaterally. The outcome measures were administered in the unaided, directional BAHA, and omnidirectional BAHA conditions after 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months of BAHA use. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) model was used to evaluate the data (for the SSD, a nonparametric analog of ANOVA was employed)., Results: None of the factors (time, HINT condition, amplification status) or their interactions were significant predictors of change in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from baseline over time on the HINT. The mean SNR (non-baseline-subtracted) was significantly lower in the directional BAHA versus the unaided status and in the omnidirectional BAHA versus the unaided status, but only under the noise in front, speech lateralized to the bad ear HINT condition. Significant short- and long-term BAHA benefit was observed on the APHAB (all subscales except Aversiveness) and SSD (all questionnaire items)., Conclusions: Our results show short- and long-term efficacy for the BAHA in adults with single-sided deafness for recognition of speech in noise (noise in front, speech lateralized to the bad ear) and on subjective measures of benefit.

The purposes of this investigation were two-fold: 1) to prospectively investigate the effect of prolonged lack of binaural amplification in the unaided ears of adults with bilaterally symmetrical sensorineural hearing impairment (BSSHI) fitted monaurally; and, 2) to prospectively investigate the effects of amplification on speech-recognition performance in the aided ears of monaurally and binaurally fitted subjects. Subjects consisted of 19 monaurally aided adults, 28 binaurally aided adults, and 19 control adults. Both ears of the experimental subjects (binaurally and monaurally aided adults) had BSSHI. The speech measures included the W-22 CID suprathreshold speech-recognition test, nonsense syllable test, and speech-perception-in-noise test. Initial testing was done between 6 and 12 weeks following hearing-aid fitting. Retests were performed approximately 1 year following the initial test. The results revealed that the mean aided minus unaided ear score for the nonsense syllable and W-22 tests increased significantly from the initial test to retest, reflecting a slight improvement in speech performance in the aided ear and a slightly greater decrement in the unaided ear. The findings were interpreted with respect to the theories of auditory deprivation and acclimatization.

Adult-onset auditory deprivation following prolonged lack of amplification in the unaided ears of persons with bilaterally symmetrical sensorineural hearing impairment was first reported in 1984. This article on the phenomenon includes a review of the literature on adult-onset auditory deprivation in relation to etiology, pathophysiology, hearing-loss manifestations, typical audiologic profile, amplification strategies, contraindications or challenges to conventional hearing-aid fitting, and future research. A case study illustrates the phenomenon of auditory deprivation from monaural amplification with recovery following binaural amplification. The results of a complete audiologic and acoustic-immittance evaluation are presented for a bilaterally sensorineural hearing-impaired male with adult-onset auditory deprivation who initially was fit monaurally and later was fit binaurally. A significant decrement in the suprathreshold word-recognition scores occurred only in the unaided ear following monaural amplification, illustrating the phenomenon of adult-onset auditory deprivation. Following binaural amplification, the suprathreshold word-recognition scores for the formerly unaided ear improved significantly, illustrating the phenomenon of recovery from the adult-onset auditory deprivation with binaural amplification.

The suprathreshold word-recognition scores for 2 young, adult males with bilateral, symmetrical sensorineural hearing impairment were evaluated following monaural and then binaural hearing-aid fitting. Subjects were obtained by retrospective review of records. Subject 1 was followed over an approximately 11.5-year time period and Subject 2 was followed over an approximately 6-year period. Results revealed that a significant decrement occurred in the unaided ear following the monaural hearing-aid fitting. Then, significant improvement in the formerly unaided ear occurred following the binaural hearing-aid fitting. The implications with respect to recovery from apparent auditory deprivation after binaural amplification are discussed.

Performance on tests of pure-tone thresholds, speech-recognition thresholds, and speech-recognition scores for the two ears of each subject were evaluated in two groups of adults with bilateral hearing losses. One group was composed of individuals fitted with binaural hearing aids, and the other group included persons with monaural hearing aids. Performance prior to the use of hearing aids was compared to performance after 4-5 years of hearing aid use in order to determine whether the unaided ear would show effects of auditory deprivation. There were no differences over time for pure-tone thresholds or speech-recognition thresholds for both ears of both groups. Nevertheless, the results revealed that the speech-recognition difference scores of the binaurally fitted subjects remained stable over time whereas they increased for the monaurally fitted subjects. The findings reveal an auditory deprivation effect for the unfitted ears of the subjects with monaural hearing aids.