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Lasting auditory attention impairment after persistent middle ear infections: a dichotic listening study
Author(s) -
Asbjørnsen Arve,
Holmefjord Anders,
Reisæter Sigvor,
Møller Per,
Klausen Olav,
Prytz Bente,
Boliek Carol,
Obrzut John E
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2000.tb00352.x
Subject(s) - dichotic listening , audiology , otitis , myringotomy , active listening , medicine , psychology , surgery , communication
Dichotic listening performance was studied in children who at an early age had undergone a myringotomy with insertion of ventilating tubes for persistent middle ear infections (otitis media with effusion; OME) and compared with age‐equivalent children who had no history of otitis media or hearing problems. The OME group consisted of 19 children with a median age of 9 years; 15 of whom were right‐handed, and 14 were boys. The comparison sample comprised 18 children with a median age was 9 years 4 months. Hand preference and sex were matched with the OME group. Both groups were tested with dichotic listening to consonant‐vowel syllables and additional forced‐attention tasks. The comparison sample showed a weak right‐ear advantage, and age‐adequate attentional modulations. The children in the OME group showed a strong right‐ear advantage, but were not able to modulate the ear advantage during directed‐attention tasks. Models for interpreting the result are discussed.