OBJECTIVE: To determine whether children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) demonstrate worse language skills than their siblings with normal hearing, and whether children with UHL are more likely to receive extra assistance at school. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a case-control study of 6- to 12-year-old children with UHL compared with sibling controls (74 pairs, n = 148). Scores on the oral portion of the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS) were the primary outcome measure. Multivariable analysis was used to determine whether UHL independently predicted OWLS scores after we controlled for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: Children with UHL had worse scores than their siblings on language comprehension (91 vs 98; P = .003), oral expression (94 vs 101; P = .007), and oral composite (90 vs 99; P < .001). UHL independently predicted these OWLS scores when multivariable regression was used with moderate effect sizes of 0.3 to 0.7. Family income and maternal education were also independent predictors of oral expression and oral composite scores. No differences were found between children with right- or left-ear UHL or with varying severity of hearing loss. Children with UHL were more likely to have an individualized education plan (odds ratio: 4.4 [95% confidence interval: 2.0-9.5]) and to have received speech-language therapy (odds ratio: 2.6 [95% confidence interval: 1.3-5.4]). CONCLUSIONS: School-aged children with UHL demonstrated worse oral language scores than did their siblings with normal hearing. These findings suggest that the common practice of withholding hearing-related accommodations from children with UHL should be reconsidered and studied, and that parents and educators should be informed about the deleterious effects of UHL on oral language skills.
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机译：目的：确定单侧听力损失（UHL）的儿童是否比正常听力的兄弟姐妹表现出较差的语言能力，以及UHL的儿童是否更有可能在学校获得额外的帮助。患者与方法：我们对6至12岁的UHL儿童与同级对照（74对，n = 148）进行了病例对照研究。口语和书面语言量表（OWLS）的口语部分得分是主要的结局指标。在控制了潜在的混淆变量之后，使用多变量分析来确定UHL是否独立预测OWLS分数。结果：UHL儿童在语言理解（91 vs 98; P = .003），口头表达（94 vs 101; P = .007）和口头综合（90 vs 99; P <.001）方面的得分比其兄弟姐妹差。 ）。当使用多变量回归且效应大小为0.3到0.7时，UHL独立预测这些OWLS得分。家庭收入和孕产妇教育也是口头表达和口头综合评分的独立预测因子。在右耳或左耳UHL或听力损失严重程度不同的儿童之间未发现差异。 UHL儿童更有可能制定个性化的教育计划（几率：4.4 [95％置信区间：2.0-9.5]）并接受言语治疗（几率：2.6 [95％置信区间：1.3-5.4] ]）。结论：UHL的学龄儿童表现出比其听力正常的兄弟姐妹更差的口语成绩。这些发现表明，应重新考虑和研究不让UHL儿童接受与听力有关的适应的惯例，并应告知父母和教育者UHL对口语能力的有害影响。
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