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 Hearing impairment that doctors and parents may have considered
slight or mild "may actually be associated with both school
performance and behavior," researchers write in JAMA
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Among nearly 5,000 Dutch elementary school children, slight or mild
hearing impairment was linked with higher behavioral problem scores
on questionnaires filled out by parents and with lower scores on
standardized testing.
While the study can't prove mild hearing loss causes worse academic
performance and behavior problems, "We would like to raise awareness
that possibly slight hearing loss may have more effects in daily
life than often assumed," said lead author Dr. Carlijn le Clercq, of
Erasmus University Medical Center, in an email. "Children with
slight hearing loss may benefit from a seat in the front of the
classroom close to their teacher. And for children who seem to have
trouble keeping up at school or whose attention span is limited, a
hearing test could be considered."
Le Clercq and colleagues focused on children who had problems
hearing tones below 25 decibels.
"Rustling leaves are approximately 20 decibels," le Clercq
explained. "Maybe it is not a big deal if you can't hear rustling
leaves. However, (for people who can't), almost all normal speech
will be softer in their ears. You can imagine it takes more effort
to understand that speech, especially if it is like that all day
long."
Le Clercq's team studied 4,779 children born between 2002 and 2006.
Children with moderate or severe hearing loss were excluded from the
study.
Between ages 9 and 11, the children had their hearing checked in a
quiet room. A smaller group got a second exam, in which their
ability to hear speech in a noisy environment was tested.
School performance and behavioral problems worsened as hearing
declined, the researchers found.
The new study "highlights the fact that hearing loss, whether severe
or slight, may affect behavior and school performance," said Dr.
David Chi, who is chief of the division of pediatric otolaryngology
at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
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Slight hearing deficiencies may be enough to make it hard for kids
to discern "certain words when there is more background noise in the
classroom," Chi said. The noise could simply come from "the chatter
of peers or the sound coming from the heating or cooling system."
Chi, who coauthored an editorial accompanying the new study, agrees
that children with mild hearing problems should be seated at the
front of the classroom and recommends that teachers with softer
voices be equipped with microphones. "We've all had teachers who
mutter and are a challenge to hear," he said.
"The bottom line is that this should not be ignored and we should
provide interventions for those who have even slight hearing loss,"
Chi said.
The new findings should alert people to the possibility that
children with poor school performance and behavior problems might
have hearing loss, said Dr. Maura Cosetti, who directs the Cochlear
Implant Center at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai in
New York City.
Even mild hearing loss might make it hard for children to pay
attention, possibly leading them to tune out the teacher, Cosetti
said. "I frequently see kids who don't listen and have behavior
issues who have never had their hearing tested outside of routine
tests done in schools," she added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/34E1fv5 and http://bit.ly/34E6ieZ JAMA
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, online November 27, 2019.
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