Speechreading as a communication mediator.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the speechreading between individuals with hearing impairment and with normal hearing levels to verify the factors that influence the speechreading among hearing impaired patients.


METHODS
Forty individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss aged between 13 and 70 years old (study group) and 21 hearing individuals aged between 17 and 63 years old (control group) were evaluated. As a research instrument, anamnesis was used to characterize the groups; three speechreading instruments, presenting stimuli via a mute video, with a female speaker; and a vocabulary test, to verify their influence on speechreading. A descriptive and analytical statistics (ANOVA test and Pearson's correlation), adopting a significance level of 0.05 (5%).


RESULTS
A better performance was observed in the group with hearing impairment in speechreading tests than in the group with hearing individuals. By analyzing the group with hearing loss, there was a mean difference between tests (p<0.001), which also showed correlation between them. Individuals with pre-lingual hearing loss and those who underwent therapy for speechreading had a better performance for most speechreading instruments. The variables gender and schooling showed no influence on speechreading.


CONCLUSIONS
Individuals with hearing impairment had better performance on speechreading tasks in comparison to people with normal hearing. Furthermore, it was found that the ability to perform speechread might be influenced by the vocabulary, period of installation of the hearing loss, and speechreading therapy.
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Letícia Neves de
LN
Oliveira
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Alexandra Dezani
AD
Soares
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Brasilia Maria
BM
Chiari
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003638:Deafness; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D008085:Lipreading; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013067:Speech Perception; D055815:Young Adult