Auditory ability of figure-background in three different groups of elderly

Abstract

Objective: Compare the auditory ability of figure background for verbal sounds in three different groups of elderly. Methods: A total of 36 elderly, of whom 12 are hypertensive and diabetics from a UBS (basic healthy unit), 12 are active and practice physical activity, from a living group and 12 elderly from a ILPI (long permanence institution for elderly). The totality of the participants was submitted to the same procedures: Anamnesis, Visual Inspection of External Acoustic Meatus, Pure-Tone Threshold Audiometry, Logoaudiometry, Acoustic Immitance Measure and Auditory Ability of Figure-Background Evaluation for verbal sounds using the Dichotic Digits Test (DDT) in the binaural integration. Were included in the sample individuals with normal auditory threshold or hearing loss from mild to moderate (Lloyd and Kaplan, 1978). Results: There were not observed statistical significant differences between groups related to age and classification of hearing threshold. There were statistical significant differences between groups concerning the DDT percentage of correct answers, where the active elderly group achieved better results than the other groups and the elderly from the institution obtained the worst results in the ability. Conclusion: The active elderly group presented better performance in the auditory ability of figure-background for verbal sounds compared to diabetic and hypertensive and the elderly from an institution.