Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Maria Renata José
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | Bauru. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB/SDB) |
| Defense date: | 2013-11-13 |
| Examining board members: |
Mariza Ribeiro Feniman;
Fatima Cristina Alves Branco Barreiro;
Maria Fernanda Capoani Garcia Mondelli
|
| Advisor: | Mariza Ribeiro Feniman |
| Abstract | |
Attention is an important skill to block environmental noise competitive to the interest stimulus of the subject, mainly for the elderly, who may present a higher difficulty in consequence of hearing losses due to aging, such as presbycusis. Therefore, the research aims to verify the performance of the elderly with and without a diagnosis of mild hearing loss in a behavioral test of sustained auditory attention and compare the results obtained in elderly groups with a group of adults with normal hearing in order to find the influence that this attention skills suffer in the aging process, even as, a consequence of sensory deprivation of a mild hearing loss, using as instrument the Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test - SAAAT (FENIMAN, 2004). The SAAAT is a method used to evaluate the auditory attention by evaluating the subjects ability to listen to auditory stimuli over a prolonged period, and respond only to the specific stimulus. The tasks required are the auditory vigilance and sustained auditory attention. The test performance is verified by the total error score (the result of a sum of inattention errors and impulsivity) and the vigilance decrement. Participated in the study 60 elderly (aged over 60) and 30 adult subjects (aged 18 to 30) of both genders. Research participants were divided into three groups: GI: consisted of 30 elderly with bilaterally normal hearing, GII: 30 elderly diagnosed with mild hearing loss, sensorineural and bilateral, GIII: consisting of 30 adults with bilaterally normal peripheral hearing. The assessment process of all participants consisted of applying Attention Questionnaire, pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, immittance and SAAAT. Statistical analysis was performed through Kruskal-Wallis, Miller, Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation coefficient tests. Results were considered statistically significant when P value was less than 0.05. The averages for the total error score were: GI: 6.2 (1.9 inattention and 4.3 impulsivity), GII: 9.2 (3.6 inattention and 5.6 impulsivity) and GIII: 2.5 (1.7 inattention and 0.8 impulsivity). In relation to vigilance decrement the average observed was 0.5, 0.8 and 0.4 for groups GI, GII and GIII, respectively. There was a correlation between the age variable and vigilance decrement (p=0.04). In this study it was observed that the elderly groups (GI and GII) presented the worst scores on the total error score in relation to the adult group (GIII), with higher incidence of impulsivity and inattention errors compared with the adult group; hearing loss was not a factor that influenced the type of error most frequently observed in SAAAT (inattention or impulsivity), however, hearing loss negatively affected the performance of the test, in which the elderly of GII scored higher than total error score than those without hearing loss (GI) and aging was a factor that influenced in the loss of attentional focus while performing in an auditory task in the groups studied. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 11/03948-0 - Performance test for elderly in the Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test - SAAAT |
| Grantee: | Maria Renata José |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |