Unilateral hearing loss
| Unilateral hearing loss | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | otolaryngology |
| ICD-10 | H90.1, H90.4, H90.7 |
Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) or single-sided deafness (SSD) is a type of hearing impairment where there is normal hearing in one ear and impaired hearing in the other ear.
Patients with unilateral hearing loss have difficulty in
In quiet conditions, speech discrimination is no worse than normal hearing in those with partial deafness; however, in noisy environments speech discrimination is almost always severe.
Known causes include physical trauma, acoustic neuroma, measles, labyrinthitis, microtia, meningitis, Ménière's disease, Waardenburg syndrome, mumps (epidemic parotitis), and mastoiditis.
A 1998 study of schoolchildren found that per thousand, 6-12 had some form of unilateral hearing loss and 0-5 had moderate to profound unilateral hearing loss. It was estimated that in 1998 some 391,000 school-aged children in the United States had unilateral hearing loss.
Profound unilateral hearing loss is a specific type of hearing loss when one ear has no functional hearing ability (91 dB or greater hearing loss). People with profound unilateral hearing loss can only hear in monaural (mono).
Profound unilateral hearing loss or single-sided deafness, SSD, makes hearing comprehension very difficult. With speech and background noise presented at the same level, persons with unilateral deafness were found to hear only about 30-35% of the conversation. A person with SSD needs to make more effort when communicating with others. When a patient can hear from only one ear, and there are limited possibilities to compensate for the handicap, e.g., changing listening position, group discussions and dynamic listening situations become difficult. Individuals with profound unilateral hearing loss are often perceived as socially awkward due to constant attempts to maximize hearing leading to socially unique body language and mannerisms.
SSD also negatively affects hearing and comprehension by making it impossible for the patient to determine the direction, distance and movement of sound sources. In an evaluation using the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) questionnaire, SSD results in a greater handicap than subjects with a hearing loss in both ears.
...
Wikipedia