The effect of hearing aid use on dichotic listening performance of the hearing-impaired elderly

Background and Aim: One of the chronic hea­lth problems of the elderly is presbycusis, and one of the most important age-related changes in central auditory processing is dichotic listening deficit. The purpose of this study was to investi­gate the effects of using hearing aids on dichotic listening performance of the elderly with hearing loss by dichotic tests. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, randomi­zed dichotic digit test (RDDT) and dichotic auditory verbal memory test (DAVMT) were performed on 20 seniors with hearing loss (8 male, 12 female) aged 65−80 years. They were divided into two groups of test (with hearing aid, n = 10) and control (without hearing aid, n = 10). They were tested before and two months after the use of hearing aid and the results were analyzed using t-test for two independent variables. Results: There was a significant difference in the total DAVMT score in control group before and after the intervention (p < 0.001) and not in test group, but in terms of right and left ear DAVMT and RDDT scores, showed no significant diffe­rence in any groups. Moreover, there was no sig­nificant difference in the mean DAVMT score of the right ear and the mean RDDT score between groups, but in terms of the total DAVMT score, a significant difference between two groups was reported (p = 0.003). Conclusion: It can be said that the DAVMT has the ability to show adverse effects of hearing loss on recognition function and memory of the elde­rly. Keywords: Randomized dichotic digit test; dichotic auditory verbal memory test; hearing aid; presbycusis