The Correlation between Binaural Interaction Component of the Auditory Brainstem Response and Total Score of the Persian Version of the Spatial Hearing Questionnaire

Background and Aim: People with spatial hearing impairment have difficulty perception   of speech in the presence of noise, sound localization, and estimating the distance from the sound source. In this study, the comparison between amplitude and latency of the Binaural Interaction Component of the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR-BIC) with the total score of the Persian version of the Spatial Hearing Questionnaire (SHQ) in adults with normal hearing and moderate sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) was evaluated. Methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study 55, 18–45-year-old individuals including 35 of normal hearing and 20 moderate SNHL participated. All participants underwent the assessments of medical history, otoscopy, conventional audiometry, tympanometry, SHQ questionnaire, and auditory brainstem response (ABR). Results: There was no significant correlation between the amplitude and latency of the ABR- BIC and the Persian version of the SHQ in normal groups (r=–0.085, r=0.116) and in moderate SNHL groups (r=0.030, r=0.119). The mean value of ABR-BIC range of people with normal hearing and SNHL is statistically significant (p=0.001). Conclusion: The results showed that the amplitude and latency of ABR-BIC were not correlated with the Persian version of the SHQ in people with normal hearing and with moderate SNHL but statistically significant between the mean amplitude and latency of ABR- BIC in people with normal hearing and people with hearing loss. Keywords: Auditory brainstem response; spatial hearing questionnaire; binaural interaction component; spatial hearing; spatial hearing disorder