Deterioration of the Residual Hearing of Children with Sensorineural Deafness

Abstract

Deterioration in the residual hearing of the aided and unaided ears of children with sensorineural deafness was investigated by comparing the mean Average Hearing Losses of their initial audiograms with the mean Average Hearing Losses of recent audiograms, and relating the changes to various variables. The results of the investigation confirm previous findings that the use of high-powered hearing aids tends to cause deterioration of the hearing of the aided ear, that this effect of aid use is about the same in degree in endogenous and exogenous deafnesses and that small amounts of deterioration of unknown origin tend to occur in the unaided ears of children with sensorineural deafness, and tend to be greater in ears with less initial hearing loss. It was also found that the general deterioration of hearing tends to be bilateral and greater in exogenous than in endogenous deafnesses.