The effect of auditory deprivation on localization of voice

Decreases in speech understanding and speech discrimination, which occur depending on the degree, type and configuration of hearing loss that occurs in adulthood, cause great problems in communication. Individuals who have trouble understanding the spoken words and determining the direction of the sound when the environment they are in is crowded or noisy, sometimes have difficulties in communicating in quiet environments. Individuals who cannot distinguish where the sound comes from, that is, their sound localization ability decreases due to hearing loss and speech understanding and discrimination level, often do not realize this. Along with these difficulties, adult individuals who are treated negatively from their environment start to act hesitantly because they are tired of trying to follow the conversation, being in crowded environments, and most importantly, communicating. The solution at this stage; Thanks to regular use of hearing aids, which aim to bring hearing to a normal level, individuals' ability to understand and distinguish speech will improve in their localization skills and will be able to distinguish where the sound comes from. Purpose / Objectives: We aimed to determine and compare the sound localization skills of individuals with normal hearing, hearing loss and different levels of auditory perception. Materials and Methods: In our study, 46 participants between the age of 39-61 years, both having normal hearing and hearing loss using hearing aids, were included. Out of these participants, 10 belong to a control group with normal hearing and the remaining 36 belong to 4 groups and have different auditory discrimination. Participants underwent pure tone audiometry and speech tests, followed by free-field speech and tonal testing to determine sound localization thresholds. Results: Localization difference threshold for speech discrimination for the participants included in the study; Statistically significant differences were found between the groups (control, group1, group2, group3, group4) at 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz and 4000 Hz difference thresholds. (p<0,05). Conclusion: It was found that the localization threshold was higher in groups including participants with worse speech discrimination scores.