Parents’ views on the quality of life of their children 2–3 years after cochlear implantation

Conclusions
Parents report that cochlear implants affect their children in a wide variety of ways that cannot be summarized by a single scale. A broader descriptive framework is required to capture their experiences adequately.

from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Education, Occupation, Noise Exposure History and the 10-yr Cumulative Incidence of Hearing Impairment in Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to determine the 10-yr cumulative incidence of hearing impairment and associations of education, occupation and noise exposure history with the incidence of hearing impairment in a population-based cohort study of 3753 adults ages 48-92 years at the baseline examinations during 1993-1995 in Beaver Dam, WI. Hearing thresholds were measured at baseline, 2.5 yr, 5 yr, and 10-yr follow-up examinations. Hearing impairment was defined as a pure-tone average (PTA) > 25 dB HL at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Demographic characteristics and occupational histories were obtained by questionnaire. The 10-yr cumulative incidence of hearing impairment was 37.2%. Age (5 yr; Hazard Ratio (HR)=1.81), sex (M v W; HR=2.29), occupation based on longest held job (Production/Operations/Farming vs others; HR=1.34), marital status (unmarried vs married; HR=1.29) and education (<16 vs 16+ yrs; HR=1.40) were associated with the 10 yr incidence. History of noisy jobs was not associated with the 10-yr incidence of hearing impairment. The risk of hearing impairment was high, with women experiencing a slightly later onset. Markers of socioeconomic status were associated with hearing impairment, suggesting that hearing impairment in older adults may be associated with modifiable lifestyle and environmental factors, and therefore, at least partially preventable.

from Hearing Research

Hearing status, need for recovery after work, and psychosocial work characteristics: Results from an internet-based national survey on hearing

The main aim of the study is to address the relationship between hearing status and need for recovery. In addition, the role of hearing status in the relationship between psychosocial work characteristics (i.e. job demands and job control) and need for recovery was assessed. The sample comprised 925 normally-hearing and hearing-impaired working adults (aged 18-65 years) participating in the National Longitudinal Study on Hearing. Hearing status was determined using the national hearing (speech-in-noise) test over the internet. Psychosocial work characteristics and need for recovery were assessed using the job content questionnaire and the Dutch questionnaire on the experience and assessment of work. Regression models revealed a significant association between hearing status and need for recovery after work, poorer hearing leading to an increasing need for recovery. Additionally, poorer hearing led to a higher odds for risky levels of need for recovery. Hearing status did not influence the significant relationship between psychosocial work characteristics (i.e. job demand and job control) and need for recovery after work. Implications for clinical practice, such as the necessity of having adequate enablement programs for this specific group of patients, are discussed.

from the International Journal of Audiology

The effect of hearing impairment in older people on the spouse: Development and psychometric testing of The Significant Other Scale for Hearing Disability (SOS-HEAR)

The effects of hearing impairment on the person with the impairment and on their significant others are pervasive and affect the quality of life for all involved. The effect of hearing impairment on significant others is known as a third-party disability. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test a scale to measure the third-party disability experienced by spouses of older people with hearing impairment. The Significant Other Scale for Hearing Disability (SOS-HEAR) was based on results of a previous qualitative study investigating the effect of hearing impairment on a spouse’s everyday life. Psychometric testing with 100 spouses was conducted using item analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, factor analysis, and test-retest reliability. Principal components analysis identified six key underlying factors. A combined set of 27 items was found to be reliable (alpha = 0.94), with weighted kappa for items ranging from fair to very good. The SOS-HEAR is a brief, easy to administer instrument that has evidence of reliability and validity. The SOS-HEAR could serve as a means of identifying spouses of older people with hearing impairment in need of intervention, directed towards either the couple or the spouse alone.

from the International Journal of Audiology

Discrimination of Time-Reversed Harmonic Complexes by Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Abstract Normal-hearing (NH) listeners and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners detected and discriminated time-reversed harmonic complexes constructed of equal-amplitude harmonic components with fundamental frequencies (F0s) ranging from 50 to 800 Hz. Component starting phases were selected according to the positive and negative Schroeder-phase algorithms to produce within-period frequency sweeps with relatively flat temporal envelopes. Detection thresholds were not affected by component starting phases for either group of listeners. At presentation levels of 80 dB SPL, NH listeners could discriminate the two waveforms nearly perfectly when the F0s were less than 300–400 Hz but fell to chance performance for higher F0s. HI listeners performed significantly poorer, with reduced discrimination at several of the F0s. In contrast, at a lower presentation level meant to nearly equate sensation levels for the two groups, NH listeners’ discrimination was poorer than HI listeners at most F0s. Roving presentation levels had little effect on performance by NH listeners but reduced performance by HI listeners. The differential impact of roving level suggests a weaker perception of timbre differences and a greater susceptibility to the detrimental effects of experimental uncertainty in HI listeners.

from JARO — Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology

Results of auditory brainstem response monitoring of microvascular decompression: A prospective study of 22 patients with hemifacial spasm

Conclusions:
In addition to the significant delay of wave V, useful recognition of early changes of wave III is possible and enables a change of microsurgical maneuvers to favor ABR recovery. Laryngoscope, 2009

from The Laryngoscope

Perception of the acoustic environment and neuroimaging findings: a report of six cases with a history of closed head injury

Conclusion: The main finding was the relation between difficulty in determining the direction of movement of a sound source and frontal lesions and poor working memory. Poor correspondence in some cases between functional findings and imaging findings can be due to the possibility of axonal degeneration as well as plastic reorganization. Objective: The purpose of the present investigation of six cases was to identify auditory, cognitive and neuroimaging long-term sequelae of closed head injury (CHI) with particular focus on environmental sound recognition and moving sound sources. Subjects and methods: Six subjects who had experienced CHI were investigated with auditory tests. Four subjects also completed cognitive testing. CT and MRI were performed. Results: There was a large individual variability of the test results with respect to morphological findings. In five cases with central auditory processing disorders morphological brain damage was demonstrated. Two cases with shortcomings on cognitive testing and with frontal brain lesions demonstrated problems in determining the direction of movement of a sound source. The results may indicate that basal frontal lobe structures play a role in following and determining the direction of movement of a sound source. Two cases had problems with environmental sound recognition; in one left temporal brain lesions were demonstrated.

from Acta Oto-Laryngologica

Perception of the acoustic environment and neuroimaging findings: a report of six cases with a history of closed head injury

Conclusion: The main finding was the relation between difficulty in determining the direction of movement of a sound source and frontal lesions and poor working memory. Poor correspondence in some cases between functional findings and imaging findings can be due to the possibility of axonal degeneration as well as plastic reorganization. Objective: The purpose of the present investigation of six cases was to identify auditory, cognitive and neuroimaging long-term sequelae of closed head injury (CHI) with particular focus on environmental sound recognition and moving sound sources. Subjects and methods: Six subjects who had experienced CHI were investigated with auditory tests. Four subjects also completed cognitive testing. CT and MRI were performed. Results: There was a large individual variability of the test results with respect to morphological findings. In five cases with central auditory processing disorders morphological brain damage was demonstrated. Two cases with shortcomings on cognitive testing and with frontal brain lesions demonstrated problems in determining the direction of movement of a sound source. The results may indicate that basal frontal lobe structures play a role in following and determining the direction of movement of a sound source. Two cases had problems with environmental sound recognition; in one left temporal brain lesions were demonstrated.

from Acta Oto-Laryngologica

Perception of the acoustic environment and neuroimaging findings: a report of six cases with a history of closed head injury

Conclusion: The main finding was the relation between difficulty in determining the direction of movement of a sound source and frontal lesions and poor working memory. Poor correspondence in some cases between functional findings and imaging findings can be due to the possibility of axonal degeneration as well as plastic reorganization. Objective: The purpose of the present investigation of six cases was to identify auditory, cognitive and neuroimaging long-term sequelae of closed head injury (CHI) with particular focus on environmental sound recognition and moving sound sources. Subjects and methods: Six subjects who had experienced CHI were investigated with auditory tests. Four subjects also completed cognitive testing. CT and MRI were performed. Results: There was a large individual variability of the test results with respect to morphological findings. In five cases with central auditory processing disorders morphological brain damage was demonstrated. Two cases with shortcomings on cognitive testing and with frontal brain lesions demonstrated problems in determining the direction of movement of a sound source. The results may indicate that basal frontal lobe structures play a role in following and determining the direction of movement of a sound source. Two cases had problems with environmental sound recognition; in one left temporal brain lesions were demonstrated.

from Acta Oto-Laryngologica

Hearing Impairment in 2008: A compilation of available epidemiological studies

A data bank of prevalence of hearing impairment for monitoring and implementation of programmes at national or global level and for the estimate of the global burden has been established. A systematic search was conducted of random-sample population-based studies of bilateral hearing impairment with clearly defined hearing threshold levels. Fifty-three studies from 31 countries from all WHO regions were found to meet the selection criteria. The prevalence of mild and disabling hearing impairment and other details from the studies are reported by WHO region. Although a large number of studies were found, only a small number among them were suitable surveys of prevalence of bilateral hearing impairment in the general population. Hearing impairment is a major disability that should be monitored at all ages: more population-based surveys are needed in all regions of the world. Utilization of the WHO protocol is recommended for collection and analysis of data in standard ways; especially recommended is the use of WHO threshold levels and to report the prevalence of bilateral impairment, both of which required to calculate burden.

from the International Journal of Audiology

Children with Minimal Conductive Hearing Impairment: Speech Comprehension in Noise

Based on a study sample of 1071 primary school children (5.3-11.7 years), 10.2% of the children were found to have conductive hearing loss in 1 or both ears. Binaural speech comprehension scores of a subset of 540 children were analyzed. The results showed that children with bilateral conductive hearing loss had the lowest mean scores of 60.8-69.3% obtained under noise conditions. These scores were significantly lower than the corresponding scores of 69.3-75.3% obtained by children with possible middle ear disorders but no apparent hearing loss, 70.5-76.5% obtained by children with a unilateral conductive hearing loss and 72.0-80.3% obtained by their normally hearing peers. This study confirms that young children, who are known to have poorer speech understanding in noise, show further disadvantage when a bilateral conductive hearing loss is present.

from Audiology & Neuro-Otology

Hearing Impairment in 2008: A compilation of available epidemiological studies

A data bank of prevalence of hearing impairment for monitoring and implementation of programmes at national or global level and for the estimate of the global burden has been established. A systematic search was conducted of random-sample population-based studies of bilateral hearing impairment with clearly defined hearing threshold levels. Fifty-three studies from 31 countries from all WHO regions were found to meet the selection criteria. The prevalence of mild and disabling hearing impairment and other details from the studies are reported by WHO region. Although a large number of studies were found, only a small number among them were suitable surveys of prevalence of bilateral hearing impairment in the general population. Hearing impairment is a major disability that should be monitored at all ages: more population-based surveys are needed in all regions of the world. Utilization of the WHO protocol is recommended for collection and analysis of data in standard ways; especially recommended is the use of WHO threshold levels and to report the prevalence of bilateral impairment, both of which required to calculate burden.

from the International Journal of Audiology

Deaf teenagers with cochlear implants in conversation with hearing peers

Conclusions & Implications: The deaf teenagers with CI in the study seem to be equally collaborative and responsible conversational partners as the hearing teenagers. The interpretation is that certain conditions in this study facilitate their participation in conversation. Such conditions might be a calm environment, a task that is structured and without time limits and that the partner is well known to the teenager with CI.

from the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders

Review of visual speech perception by hearing and hearing-impaired people: clinical implications

Conclusions & Implications: Speech-reading, a mandatory part of speech perception, should be appropriately assessed and be considered when developing strategies for speech and language intervention.

from the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders

Comparable efficacy and tolerability between twice daily and three times daily betahistine for Ménière’s disease

Conclusion. Betahistine at oral doses of 16 mg tid and 24 mg bid provides similar efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of vertigo in patients with Ménière’s disease. Objective. To compare the efficacy and tolerability of betahistine 16 mg tid and 24 mg bid in the treatment of vertigo in patients with Ménière’s disease. Patients and methods. This was a randomized, open-label study of 120 consecutive patients with well-established Mnire’s disease treated with betahistine 16 mg tid or 24 mg bid for 24 weeks. Treatment efficacy, assessed by clinical outcome level in terms of severity, frequency and duration of vertigo spells, was evaluated at baseline and at weeks 4, 12 and 24. Between-group comparisons of outcome data (Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney U test) and adverse events (chi-squared test) were made. Results. Betahistine 16 mg tid or 24 mg bid showed a significant improvement in clinical outcome level from baseline to week 24 (p<0.01). There was no significant difference between dosage groups regarding improvement in vertigo at any time point during the study. There was no significant difference between groups in the incidence of adverse events, which was low (maximum: headache, 16 mg tid, 16.7% of patients at week 4; 6.7% at week 24). The number of patients reporting adverse events diminished with time.

from Acta Oto-Laryngologica