Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Oct;35(5):343-9.
doi: 10.14639/0392-100X-497.

Binaural squelch and head shadow effects in children with unilateral cochlear implants and contralateral hearing aids

H Dincer D'Alessandro  1 , G Sennaroğlu  2 , E Yücel  2 , E Belgin  3 , P Mancini  1
Affiliations
Review

Binaural squelch and head shadow effects in children with unilateral cochlear implants and contralateral hearing aids

H Dincer D'Alessandro et al. Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital. 2015 Oct.

Abstract
in English, Italian

The aim of this study was to investigate the amount of binaural squelch effect (BSE) and head shadow effect (HSE) in children who use unilateral cochlear implants (CI) and contralateral hearing aids (HA). The study group consisted of 19 CI recipient children who consistently wore a contralateral HA. Speech sounds were used to evaluate speech perception performance in noise. Testing was performed in three listening conditions: (1) bimodal listening with noise source on HA side; (2) CI only with noise source contralaterally (HA off); (3) CI only with noise source on the CI side. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between the three listening conditions and post hoc tests indicated significant differences for all pairwise comparisons (p < 0.001). The average BSE and HSE were 11.8% and 17.1% respectively. The majority of bimodal CI users showed BSE and HSE with significant speech perception improvement in the presence of noise.

Lo scopo di questo studio è stato quello di indagare il grado di effetto squelch binaurale (BSE) e di effetto ombra (HSE) nei bambini che fanno uso di impianto cocleare (CI) e protesi acustica controlaterale (HA). Sono stati arruolati 19 bambini con CI che indossavano regolarmente una HA. Per valutare la performance vocale in presenza di rumore è stato utilizzato un test di identificazione vocalica. Il test è stato eseguito in tre condizioni di ascolto: (1) ascolto bimodale con sorgente di rumore sul lato HA; (2) ascolto con CI con sorgente di rumore sul lato HA; (3) ascolto con CI con sorgente di rumore sul lato CI. I valori medi di BSE e di HSE osservati sono 11.8% e 17.1% rispettivamente. L'analisi statistica condotta ha evidenziato una differenza significativa sia nel confronto tra le tre condizioni di ascolto che per l'analisi post-hoc (p < 0.001). In conclusione, la maggioranza dei bambini con CI hanno mostrato BSE ed HSE con un miglioramento significativo nella percezione vocale in presenza di rumore.

Keywords: Bimodal benefit; Binaural squelch effect; Children; Cochlear implants; Head shadow effect.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Illustration of the three listening conditions: (B) bimodal listening with noise source on HA side; (C) CI only listening with noise source on HA side; (A) CI only listening with noise source on CI side. S: Speech; N: Noise; CI: Cochlear Implant; HA: Hearing Aid.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
The average percentage of correct scores for each listening condition: (B) bimodal listening with noise source on HA side; (C) CI only listening with noise source on HA side; (A) CI only listening with noise source on CI side.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Binaural squelch and head shadow effects for each subject and their average.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Cherry EC. Some experiments upon the recognition of speech, with one and with two ears. J Acoust Soc Am. 1953;25:975–979.
    1. Byrne D. Clinical issues and options in binaural hearing aid fitting. Ear Hear. 1981;2:187–193. - PubMed
    1. Firszt JB, Reeder RM, Skinner MW. Restoring hearing symmetry with two cochlear implants or one cochlear implant and a contralateral hearing aid. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2008;45:749–768. - PubMed
    1. Lederberg AR, Schick B, Spencer PE. Language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children: successes and challenges. Dev Psychol. 2013;49:15–30. - PubMed
    1. Nicastri M, Filipo R, Ruoppolo G, et al. Inferences and metaphoric comprehension in unilaterally implanted children with adequate formal oral language performance. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;78:821–827. - PubMed