Functional Hearing Disorder in Children.
Semin Pediatr Neurol 2022;
41:100956. [PMID:
35450670 DOI:
10.1016/j.spen.2022.100956]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Functional hearing disorder (FHD) is one of the conditions that fall under the umbrella of Functional Neurological Disorders. FHD is characterized by a decrease in hearing sensitivity without correlation in standard audiological testing. In the general pediatric population, the prevalence of FHD is estimated at less than 2%. The prevalence is about 7% in children 6-17 years of age. Some authors, however, consider FHD the most common etiology of sudden onset bilateral hearing loss in children. The mean age at diagnosis of FHD is 11.3 years - the condition is rare below 7 years of age. FHD affects twice as many girls as boys. The loss tends to be of sudden onset, bilateral, impacts all frequencies to a similar degree, and can be associated with an identifiable psychosocial conflict. FHD can be diagnosed using two sets of tests: (1) behavioral tests: pure-tone and speech audiometry; and (2) physiological tests: immittance audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, auditory evoked potentials, and functional neuroimaging. The backbone of the treatment of FHD includes cognitive-behavioral therapy and as needed, psychiatric medications. In this paper, we review the diagnosis, treatment, differential diagnosis, and complications of FHD.
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