Language Disorders in Children with Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

 

 Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Introduction Childhood is a critical period for language development and maturation of the central auditory system. Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) is considered a minimal impairment, and little is discussed regarding its impact on the development of language, communication, and school performance.

Objectives A bibliographical survey of scientific articles published from 2001 to 2011 was performed to verify which language disorders can occur in children with UHL and which tests were performed to identify them.

Data Synthesis Three databases were used: PubMed, Lilacs, and The Cochrane Library. As inclusion criteria, the articles should have samples of children with UHL, without other impairments, aged between 3 months and 12 years, and reference to language tests applied in this population. Out of 236 papers initially selected, only 5 met the inclusion criteria. In the articles studied, 12 tests were used for language assessment in children with UHL, out of which 9 were directed toward expressive language, and 3 toward receptive language. Children with UHL demonstrated lower scores on receptive and expressive language tests when compared with children with normal hearing. However, they obtained better scores on expressive language tests than children with bilateral hearing loss.

Conclusion The findings of this survey showed that only a small number of studies used language tests in children with UHL or addressed language alterations resulting from this type of impairment. Therefore we emphasize the importance of investments in new studies on this subject to provide better explanations related to language difficulties presented by children with UHL.

Note

Study performed in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Graduate Program (Master's Degree), Bauru School of Dentistry, Universidade de São Paulo–USP–Bauru (SP), Brazil.

• References

• 1 Lü J, Huang Z, Yang T , et al. Screening for delayed-onset hearing loss in preschool children who previously passed the newborn hearing screening. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2011; 75 (8) 1045-1049
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 2 McKay S, Gravel JS, Tharpe AM. Amplification considerations for children with minimal or mild bilateral hearing loss and unilateral hearing loss. Trends Amplif 2008; 12 (1) 43-54
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 3 Bess FH, Tharpe AM. Unilateral hearing impairment in children. Pediatrics 1984; 74 (2) 206-216
  Google Scholar
• 4 Tharpe AM. Unilateral and mild bilateral hearing loss in children: past and current perspectives. Trends Amplif 2008; 12 (1) 7-15
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 5 Gelfand SA, Silman S. Apparent auditory deprivation in children: implications of monaural versus binaural amplification. J Am Acad Audiol 1993; 4 (5) 313-318
  Google Scholar
• 6 Hattori H. Ear dominance for nonsense-syllable recognition ability in sensorineural hearing-impaired children: monaural versus binaural amplification. J Am Acad Audiol 1993; 4 (5) 319-330
  Google Scholar
• 7 Silman S, Gelfand SA, Silverman CA. Late-onset auditory deprivation: effects of monaural versus binaural hearing aids. J Acoust Soc Am 1984; 76 (5) 1357-1362
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 8 Bess FH, Dodd-Murphy J, Parker RA. Children with minimal sensorineural hearing loss: prevalence, educational performance, and functional status. Ear Hear 1998; 19 (5) 339-354
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 9 Tharpe AM, Bess FH. Identification and management of children with minimal hearing loss. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 1991; 21 (1) 41-50
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 10 Lieu JEC, Tye-Murray N, Karzon RK, Piccirillo JF. Unilateral hearing loss is associated with worse speech-language scores in children. Pediatrics 2010; 125 (6) e1348-e1355
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 11 Balbani APS, Montovani JC. Impacto das otites médias na aquisição da linguagem em crianças. J Pediatr 2003; 79 (5) 391-396
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 12 Lieu JEC. Speech-language and educational consequences of unilateral hearing loss in children. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2004; 130 (5) 524-530
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 13 Yoshinaga-Itano C, Johnson CD, Carpenter K, Brown AS. Outcomes of children with mild bilateral hearing loss and unilateral hearing loss. Semin Hear 2008; 29 (2) 196-211
  Article in Thieme ConnectGoogle Scholar
• 14 Almeida K, Santos TMM. Seleção e adaptação de próteses auditivas em crianças. In: Almeida K, Iorio MCM, , eds. Próteses auditivas: fundamentos teóricos e aplicações clínicas. São Paulo, SP, Brasil: Editora Lovise; 2003: 357-380
  Google Scholar
• 15 Snik A, Leijendeckers J, Hol M, Mylanus E, Cremers C. The bone-anchored hearing aid for children: recent developments. Int J Audiol 2008; 47 (9) 554-559
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 16 Johnson JL, White KR, Widen JE , et al. A multicenter evaluation of how many infants with permanent hearing loss pass a two-stage otoacoustic emissions/automated auditory brainstem response newborn hearing screening protocol. Pediatrics 2005; 116 (3) 663-672
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 17 Santos MFC, Ziliotto KN, Monteiro VG, Hirata CHW, Pereira LD, Weckx LLM. Avaliação do processamento auditivo central em crianças com e sem antecedentes de otite média. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed) 2001; 67 (4) 448-454
  Google Scholar
• 18 Priwin C, Jönsson R, Magnusson L, Hultcrantz M, Granström G. Audiological evaluation and self-assessed hearing problems in subjects with single-sided congenital external ear malformations and associated conductive hearing loss. Int J Audiol 2007; 46 (4) 162-171
  Google Scholar
• 19 Schmithorst VJ, Holland SK, Ret J, Duggins A, Arjmand E, Greinwald J. Cortical reorganization in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Neuroreport 2005; 16 (5) 463-467
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 20 Martínez-Cruz CF, Poblano A, Conde-Reyes MP. Cognitive performance of school children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Arch Med Res 2009; 40 (5) 374-379
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 21 Paradise JL, Feldman HM, Campbell TF , et al. Early versus delayed insertion of tympanostomy tubes for persistent otitis media: developmental outcomes at the age of three years in relation to prerandomization illness patterns and hearing levels. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2003; 22 (4) 309-314
  Google Scholar
• 22 Borg E, Risberg A, McAllister B , et al. Language development in hearing-impaired children. Establishment of a reference material for a “Language test for hearing-impaired children,” LATHIC. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2002; 65 (1) 15-26
  CrossrefGoogle Scholar
• 23 Jerger S, Lai L, Marchman VA. Picture naming by children with hearing loss: I. Effect of semantically related auditory distractors. J Am Acad Audiol 2002; 13 (9) 463-477
  Google Scholar
• 24 Delgado-Pinheiro EMC, Antonio FL, Berti LC. Perfil audiológico e habilidades auditivas em crianças e adolescentes com perda auditiva. Estudos Linguísticos. 2010. [Accessed on: 2011 Dec 06]. Available at: http://www.gel.org.br/estudoslinguisticos/index.php
  Google Scholar
• 25 Bess FH, Tharpe AM, Gibler AM. Auditory performance of children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Ear Hear 1986; 7 (1) 20-26
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar