Does Hearing Impairment Impact Spatial Orientation, Navigation, and Rotation Abilities?

OBJECTIVES: Spatial cognition is a perceptual-motor function that pertains to the comprehension and processing of two-dimensional and three-dimensional space. The impairment of any sensory system can have adverse effects on cognitive functioning. The objective of this study is to examine spatial cognition in adults with hearing impairments. METHODS: There were a total of 61 individuals in this study: thirty-six with hearing loss and 25 with normal hearing. The Spatial Orientation Test (SOT), the Mental Rotation test (MR), and the Money's Road Map Test (RMT) were administered to assess participants' spatial learning-orientation, mental imagery-rotation, and spatial navigation abilities. A high number of errors in RMT, high angle difference in SOT and a low score in MR suggest poor spatial abilities. RESULTS: Participants with hearing loss had a greater number of RMT errors and SOT angle difference, but lower MR scores than those with normal hearing (P < .001). Hearing impairment negatively impacted all 3 spatial cognitive assessments. Hearing loss was associated with a 6.9 increase in the number of RMT errors (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 4.8, 9), a 23.6 increase in the SOT angle difference (95% CI: 16, 31.2), and an 8.5 decrease in the MR score (95% CI: -10.8, -6.2). CONCLUSIONS: The study found that individuals with hearing loss exhibited lower performance in various cognitive tasks related to spatial orientation, navigation, spatial learning, mental imagery, and rotation abilities when compared to an age and sex matched control group. In future study, it is imperative to place greater emphasis on hearing loss as a potential detrimental factor in the prediction of spatial cognition impairment.

Galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potentials: normative data and the effect of age.

INTRODUCTION: Galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potentials evaluate vestibular nerve responses using electric stimulation by records collected from the sternocleidomastoid muscle. A normal vestibular evoked myogenic potential response consists of the first positive, P1, and negative, N1, peaks. The response can be affected by factors such as age and gender and is also consequential in the diagnosis of pathologies. OBJECTIVES: The present study was performed to obtain normative data on healthy adults, to help in diagnosis by establishing clinical norms as well as to investigate changing test parameters with age in galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potentials. METHODS: A total of 100 healthy participants were included in the study. Galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potential (current 3 mA, duration 1 ms) was performed randomly on both ears of each participant. The participants between the ages of 18-65 (mean age 39.7 ±â€¯13.9) were divided into 5 groups according to their ages. Normative data of galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potentials parameters were calculated in groups and in total, and age-related changes were examined. RESULTS: The galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potential waveform was elicited from all participants (200 ears). The latency of P1 and N1 was 7.82 ±â€¯3.29 ms and 22.06 ±â€¯3.95 ms, respectively. The P1-N1 amplitude value was 66.64 ±â€¯24.5 µV. The percentage of vestibular asymmetry was 16.29 ±â€¯11.99%. The latencies of P1 and N1 and P1-N1 amplitude values demonstrated significant differences among different age groups (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that as age increased, latencies were prolonged, and amplitudes gradually decreased. The normative data aids in the diagnosis of retrolabyrinthine lesions and the increase in the clinical use of galvanic vestibular evoked myogenic potentials.

Prevalence of and factors affecting otitis media with effusion in children in the region from Balkans to Caspian basin; A multicentric cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to contribute to the literature about the prevalence of OME by conducting a research in a wide geography examining most of the associating factors together with a questionnaire. Additionally, possible effects of altitudes and latitudes, concordance between the otoscopic examination findings and tympanometric and acoustic reflex test results were evaluated in 4-7 years old children in the same season in different countries. METHODS: In the randomly sampled schools from different regions of different cities where people of different scoioecomonic statuses live, 4-7 year-old children were included in the study. The results of the questionnaire covering the potential factors in OME etiology were evaluated together with the results of the otoscopic examination and tympanometry findings, and also the acoustic reflex findings to direct the interpretation in cases of low amplitude - blunted peak tympanograms which can be interpreted as a "Type B" or "Type As". All the results were gathered in the same season. RESULTS: Ten centers from nine countries participated in the study. A total of 4768 children were evaluated. The frequency of OME diagnosed by otosopic examination was 22.48% (n=1072) and the diagnosis rate when otoscopic examination plus type B tympanometry were taken into account was found as 11.3% (n=539) in general population. Factors increasing the prevalence of OME were found as; mother's educational level (p=0.02), child's age (p=0.006), history of upper respiratory tract infection (p=0.001), smoking father (p=0.01), mother being a housewife or laborer (p=0.01), history of allergy (p=0.001), asthma (p=0.04), or allergy symptoms (p=0.02). No direct relationship was found between altitudes or latitudes and prevalence of OME. CONCLUSION: The important affecting factors found after analyzing all of the potential risk factors in the same model are secondhand smoke exposure, low level of mother's education, mother's occupation, positive history of URTI, and age of the child being less than 7. By paying attention to the factors that increase the prevalence of OME, putting particular emphasis on the preventable ones such as smoking, education, and fighting with allergies could decrease the prevalence of this public health issue.