[The effectiveness of the auditory training of the subjects presenting with partial deafness following cochlear implantation as reported by the patients and speech therapists].

INTRODUCTION

Auditory training consists of the exercises taking advantage of the environmental sounds and human speech; it is designed to ensure hearing for a person suffering its impairment within the range of acoustic experiences comparable with that of the normally hearing subjects. The successful treatment of partial deafness with the use of a cochlear implant (CI) resulted in the increase of the number of patients who needed auditory training to enable them to recognize mid-and high-frequency sounds. Bearing in mind the lack of the teaching aids permitting to adequately address the specific hearing problems in such patients, the Rehabilitation Clinic of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing undertook to develop the relevant materials to satisfy the needs of auditory training following surgical cochlear implantation.

AIM

The evaluation, by the patients suffering partial deafness and speech therapists, of the usefulness and the difficulty of the proposed auditory training based on the use of environmental sounds and human speech in the mid- and high-frequency ranges.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included 29 adult CI users presenting with partial deafness participating in the Institute's rehabilitation program. Both the patients and the speech therapists independently evaluated the usefulness of the proposed training and the difficulties encountered with its practical realization by completing the questionnaire according to the Likert 5-point scale.

RESULTS

The patients with partial deafness and speech therapists found out that the proposed auditory training was difficult to perform; this inference was especially true as regards the exercises designed to enable the identification of the mid- and high frequency speech sounds. The women experienced significantly more difficulties than men when performing the proposed exercises. Both the patients and the speech therapists confirmed the usefulness of the recommended auditory training as a component of the rehabilitation process.

CONCLUSION

The surgical treatment of the patients presenting with partial deafness should be supplemented by the appropriate auditory training focused on the reception and identification of mid- and high-frequency sounds. The present study provided the rationale for the development of the materials to be used for rehabilitation of the subjects suffering partial deafness.