[A study of audiologic findings in the elderly].
We divided people more than 65 years of age into groups, by 5- year age intervals, and performed hearing tests based on pure tone, speech sound, and inner ear and retrocochlear hearing functions. Thus, we studied the mechanism of hearing disorder progression with aging in an attempt to identify factors involved in decreased speech sound recognition. The following results were obtained. 1. The regression coefficient of speech discrimination ability and the mean hearing threshold level were greater in the elderly patients than in the younger patients with cochlear hearing loss. 2. Abnormal decreases in speech discrimination ability evaluated on the basis of the mean hearing threshold level occur more frequently with advancing age. 3. The SISI score increased rapidly in patients 80 years of age or older. 4. Directional hearing function (interaural time difference threshold) varied more markedly with age. 5. Little difference in SSB clipping speech articulation was seen among elderly subjects less than 80 years old, though scores were lower than those of the control group. However, it was decreased in patients 80 or more years old. These results show that the effect of a raised pure-tone hearing threshold due to decreased inner ear function and the effect of recruitment phenomenon on speech hearing were the same in patients from 65 to the late 70s; however, the effect of retrocochlear hearing loss clearly increased with age. Therefore, we consider patients 80 or more years old, to have an impaired inner ear function which is aggravated and that this, in association with advanced retrocochlear disturbance, leads to greatly decreased speech discrimination ability.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tokyo Medical College.
K
K
Shimoda
D000368:Aged / Q000502:physiology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003051:Cochlea / Q000503:physiopathology; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000503:physiopathology; D006309:Hearing; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D013067:Speech Perception