Rehabilitation of unilateral hearing loss by implantable hearing aids: systematic review

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The binaural hearing is the proper condition that allows the listener the depth dimension and sonority necessary to the perception of the soundworld.

Objective

To determine, through a systematic review, the benefits that implantable hearing aids bring to adult individuals who have unilateral hearing loss in terms of localization of sound source and speech recognition in the presence of noise.

Research strategy

Were used combinations of seven Portuguese descriptors indexed in Health Sciences (DeCS), and in English indexed in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), being: Adult, Unilateral Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids, Bone Conduction, Cochlear Implant We conducted a survey of the PubMed, Cochrane, LILACS, and Science Direct databases of articles published between January 2005 and September 2015.

Selection criteria

Survey participants over 18 years old with unilateral hearing loss, who used implantable hearing aid bone anchored hearing aids or cochlear implantation) and who had been submitted to the evaluation of the location of the sound source or performance of speech recognition in the presence of noise before and After implantation.

Results

Of the 21 articles analyzed, seven were experimental; six were prospective, three descriptive, four case series and one case study.

Conclusion

Despite the great clinical heterogeneity observed among the studies that evaluated the auditory rehabilitation of patients with unilateral hearing loss, it is possible to conclude that the cochlear implant provides better results both for the localization of the sound source and for speech recognition in the presence of noise.

Hearing loss, Unilateral; Cochlear implantation; Bone conduction; Hearing aids