Article

Thirty-six blast-exposed patients and twenty-nine non-blast-exposed control
subjects were tested on a battery of behavioral and electrophysiological tests
that have been shown to be sensitive to central auditory processing deficits.
Abnormal performance among the blast-exposed patients was assessed with reference
to normative values established as the mean performance on each test by the
control subjects plus or minus two standard deviations. Blast-exposed patients
performed abnormally at rates significantly above that which would occur by
chance on three of the behavioral tests of central auditory processing: the
Gaps-In-Noise, Masking Level Difference, and Staggered Spondaic Words tests. The
proportion of blast-exposed patients performing abnormally on a speech-in-noise
test (Quick Speech-In-Noise) was also significantly above that expected by
chance. These results suggest that, for some patients, blast exposure may lead to
difficulties with hearing in complex auditory environments, even when peripheral
hearing sensitivity is near normal limits.

Langue : ANGLAIS