title: Speech perception after early-life otitis media with fluctuating hearing loss.
abstract: The present study examined the effect of early-life otitis media and its associated fluctuating hearing loss on categorical speech perception in 7-year-old Dutch children. The middle ear status of these children had been followed prospectively in their first 2 years of life. Identification and discrimination of speech sounds differing in place of articulation were tested at school age and outcomes were significantly related to otitis media-related hearing loss. Results revealed that phoneme identification and discrimination were affected by early-life hearing loss. It is not otitis media per se, but rather the relative severity of hearing loss resulting from early-life otitis media which is related to poorer categorical speech perception abilities in school-age children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands. anne.zumach @ mumc.nl
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zumach
authors.forename: Michelene N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Chenault
authors.forename: Lucien J C
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Anteunis
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gerrits
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*