Effects of aging on auditory processing abilities.

Jang, H. S.; Lee, Y. S.; Lee, Y. R.; Lee, K. S.; Lee, H. J.; Shim, S. Y.

Objectives: Many studies have shown that auditory processing abilities deteriorate with age. The auditory processing abilities of the central nervous system should be examined in various processing areas such as temporal processing, dichotic listening, monaural low-redundancy, and binaural interaction areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of age on auditory processing abilities by examining Korean populations in the age groups of the 20s through 70s with normal hearing sensitivity. Methods: Five auditory processing tests, including Speech-in-noise Test (SINT), Compressed-Speech Test (CST), Binaural Fusion Test (BFT), Dichotic Digit Test (DDT) and Frequency Pattern Test (FPT), were used on 128 subjects (divided into six age groups) in the age groups of 20s through 70s with normal hearing sensitivity. Performance on each test was analyzed to examine the changes in auditory processing abilities by age. Correlations between tests were also analyzed. Furthermore, the number of subjects who were below the -2 SD, based on each test result of the age of 20s, were identified to determine the prevalence of suspected auditory processing disorder in each age group. Results: The results revealed that the performance decreased in all test areas as age increased from the 20s and 70s, especially significantly declined from the age of 50s. It was indicated that performance decreased from the age 50s in SINT, CST, DDT, and FPT. However, significant performance degradation was found in the age of 60s in the BFT. Significant correlations were found between SINT and CST, and also between DDT and FPT. It showed that as age increased, the number of subjects who scored below atrisk criteria (-2 SD) increased. Conclusions: The results of all auditory processing tests proved that central auditory processing functions decreased as a function of age. These findings suggest that it is necessary to establish test standards for ages above the 50s. These data from the study can be used in attribution towards the development of a standardized test, especially to be used for adults and the elderly population in a clinical setting for effective diagnosis and rehabilitation programs.,,

POLAND; AUDITORY perception; AGE distribution; CONFERENCES & conventions; AGING

Journal of Hearing Science, 2022, Vol 12, Issue 1, p165

2083-389X

Academic Journal