title: The influence of cognitive aspects and auditory processes on the hearing aid acclimatization in the elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify the speech recognition processes in a monoaural task and in a binaural integration task with dichotic listening, and to compare them to the cognitive processing in elderly subjects pre and post hearing aid acclimatization.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 60 elderly subjects of both genders, ranging in age from 61 to 85 years. They were evaluated for cognitive aspects by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-Cog). To evaluate speech processes in a monoaural task and in a binaural integration task with dichotic listening, the Percentage Index of Speech Recognition Test (PISR) and the Dichotic Digits Test (DDT) were completed before and after using the hearing aid. Data was descriptively presented and compared with non-parametric tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Speech recognition at the PISR was low (mean 69.6%) and the DDT presented better digit recognition on the right ear (mean 74.1%) than on the left ear (mean 61.1%). The sample presented improved performance on speech tests after the use of hearing aids, with relevant difference between the means of the first and the second evaluations. The PISR was not correlated with cognitive aspects. The DDT was associated with both cognitive tests, especially for the left ear.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All subjects were acclimatized, because there was improvement in speech recognition following the use of hearing aids. Subjects with cognitive problems present poorer performance in speech recognition processes with dichotic listening.
authors.affiliation: Undergraduate Program in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. madapinheiro@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Maria Madalena Canina
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Maria Cecília Martinelli
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Iório
authors.forename: Elisiane Crestani
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.forename: Karin Ziliotto
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Liliane Desgualdo
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013067:Speech Perception