Audiological characteristics and communication skills of people with aphasia

Abstract

Introduction: Aphasia is a language alteration caused by damage to the central nervous system, which reduces the quality of communication, as in hearing alterations. Hearing and communication should be monitored together. Objective: to characterize the audiological findings and communication skills of people with aphasia who attended the extension Project “Assistance in the construction of a support network for aphasic subjects of Itajaí and Region”. Methods: A quantitative study with 16 people actively participating in the Project in 2016, submitted to communication and tonal audiometry evaluation scales, logoaudiometry, and measurements of acoustic immittance. Results: 81.25% were male; 50% were aged between 50 and 60 years; 87.5% had a history of stroke with damage predominantly to the left brain hemisphere (43.75%) and presence of hypertension (31.25%). Among the individuals, 56.25% had preserved understanding and 50% had partial difficulty expressing themselves; 50% complained of understanding difficulties when in noisy places; 37.5% presented total or partial obstruction of the ear canal. There was prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss limited to high frequencies (LE – 81.25% and RE – 68.75%), with 90.52% symmetrical with type A tympanometric curve (LE – 62.5% and RE–56.25%). Speech intelligibility was normal in 50% of individuals evaluated. Conclusion: The prevalence of people with aphasia and hearing loss demonstrates the relevance of regular audiological follow-up for this population, as hearing loss can have a detrimental effect on the communication process, which is already adversely affected by the aphasia.