Abstract
Introduction Any type of sensory deprivation in childhood resulting from conductive hearing loss
may impair the development of peripheral and central auditory pathway structures with
negative consequences for binaural processing.
Objective To characterize and compare monoaural and binaural auditory responses in neonates
and children without and with a history of recurrent otitis.
Methods The study included participants from 0 to 8 years and 11 months old, in good general
health conditions, of both genders, divided into a control group, with no history
of otitis, and a study group, with history of recurrent otitis. Cortical potential
with speech stimulus /ba/-/da/ was used as collection procedure. The arithmetic calculation
of the 512 points of the wave was performed to obtain the grand average of the waves
of the subjects in both groups. The Shapiro-Wilk and mixed repeated measures analysis
of covariance (ANCOVA) statistical tests were performed to analyze the group effect,
the condition, and the interaction (group versus condition) controlling the effect
of the age-sex covariable.
Results There was a statistically significant difference between the groups for all latency
values; and for the P1, N1, P2, and N2 latencies, the differences between the groups
occurred in the three analyzed conditions (right and left ears and binaural), revealing
the influence of sensory deprivation. There were no significant differences in relation
to wave amplitudes.
Conclusion There are differences in the cortical potential with speech stimuli and in the binaural
interaction component of children with and without history of recurrent otitis.
Keywords
auditory evoked potentials - electrophysiology - child - otitis - hearing
