AUDITORY PROBLEMS IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH STROKE

Twenty-five CAT-scan-confirmed stroke patients and 25 matched controls were studied. All the stroke patients were stable 2-3 months after un ilateral hemispheric stroke. Those with ear disease, other central neu rological disorder, severe dysphasia and acute or chronic confusion we re excluded. There were no significant differences between the groups for average pure tone hearing threshold (APTT) or ability to discrimin ate pre-recorded speech presented to one ear at 35 decibels (dB) above APTT. The stroke subjects had significantly impaired performance on d ichotic competing sentence testing (DCST). Seventeen stroke patients b ut only one control subject failed DCST. Failure rate was similar for left and right stroke and for temporal and non-temporal lobe involveme nt. Two-thirds of patients failing DCST did so in the ear opposite the side of the cortical lesion. We conclude that (i) DCST is useful in d etecting central auditory dysfunction in stroke patients; and (ii) str oke can affect central auditory perception in older patients.