THE EFFECT OF OTITIS-MEDIA WITH EFFUSION ON COMPLEX MASKING TASKS IN CHILDREN

Objective: To determine whether there is a relationship between the pr esumed complexity of auditory processing and the time course of recove ry of auditory function in children with a history of otitis media wit h effusion (OME). Design: Longitudinal testing over a 1-year period fo llowing insertion of tympanostomy tubes in clinical and control groups . Subjects: A total of 34 children with a history of OME were; tested. Twenty-five were tested both just before the placement of tympanostom y tubes and on up to 3 separate occasions (1 month, 6 months, and 1 ye ar) after the placement of the tubes. With subject attrition, there we re 27, 16, and 10 listeners at the 1-month, 6-month, and 1-year tests, respectively. An age-matched control group of 29 children was tested. Methods: The comodulation masking release (CMR) paradigm was used to measure the ability of the listener to detect a signal in a noise back ground composed of a simple (1 amplitude modulation pattern) or more c omplex (2 amplitude modulation patterns) masking background. Results: Children with a history of OME had reduced masking release before and 1 month after insertion of tympanostomy tubes for both the simple and complex CMR tasks. After surgery, the CMR results for simple task was not significantly different from that in controls by 6 months, but CMR for the complex task remained significantly reduced even 1 year after surgery. Conclusion: Our results suggest a slower recovery of auditor y function for more complex auditory tasks in children with a history of OME.