https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6273-8527
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Abstract
Objective
This study aimed to compare the difference in maximum speech discrimination score (SDSmax) of the worse-hearing ear in asymmetric hearing loss (ASHL) patients with that in symmetric hearing loss (SHL) patients.
Design
We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients with suspected hearing loss (HL) who underwent audiometric examinations. Patients were divided into two groups according to the difference in air conduction (AC) threshold between the right and left ears: the SHL group and the ASHL group.
Study sample
Of the 102 patients (204 ears), 74 (148 ears) had SHL, and 28 had ASHL.
Results
The worse-hearing ear of ASHL patients exhibited a statistically significantly higher AC threshold and lower SDSmax, compared with ears of SHL patients and better-hearing ears of ASHL patients, and SDSmax exhibited a statistically significant negative correlation with AC threshold. The SDSmax was statistically significantly lower in the worse-hearing ear of the ASHL group than in moderate to severe HL ears of the SHL group, even though these groups had comparable AC thresholds.
Conclusions
ASHL patients’ worse-hearing ear exhibited a lower SDSmax than SHL patients’ ears, despite a comparable AC threshold. Management of hearing impairment in ASHL patients should receive more attention.
Ethical approval
All protocols performed in studies were approved by the Institutional Review Board at Kitasato University Hospital (B19-141).
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author contributions
T.K. designed the experiments. T.K., H.S., S.F. and T.Y. collected and analysed the data. T.K. wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.