Long-term hearing deficits after childhood middle ear disease

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the long-term impact of childhood otitis media on listening ability in school-aged children. Design: Speech perception in background noise was measured in two groups of 35 children, aged 6 to 12 years, with normal middle ear function and sound detection at assessment. The first consisted of children who had previously suffered middle ear disease; the second those with no history of middle ear disease. Results: Binaural speech perception ability was significantly poorer in the children with prior middle ear disease. Furthermore, spatial listening (the ability to selectively attend to a sound signal from one location) was also significantly impaired. Significant corr..