International Journal of Audiology最新文献

Objective: This study developed an adaptive short form of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to facilitate online tinnitus treatment triage. The full 25-item THI can increase patient burden, highlighting the need for a shorter, effective alternative.

Design: A genetic algorithm (GA) selected THI items in a three-stage scheme (THI-12/8/5). The GA was trained on Dutch THI datasets and tuned to minimise the difference between projected and full THI-25 scores below the mild threshold.

Study sample: The GA was trained on 1,121 questionnaires and validated on a set of 1,181 questionnaires. Cross-validation was performed using a Polish THI-dataset. Participants, aged 18+, originated from two Dutch hospitals and consented to the use of their data for research.

Results: The analysis produced the THI-12/8/5 model, with 12 items identifying "slight" tinnitus and an additional 8 items for "mild" cases. Patients with higher predicted burdens completed the full 25-item THI. The abbreviated questionnaire demonstrated clinically relevant accuracy while reducing the response burden for less severe cases.

Conclusions: The adaptive THI-12/8/5 is a concise and effective self-report tool for online tinnitus treatment triage. It improves efficiency, reduces patient burden, and contributes to the advancement of abbreviated questionnaires using GA models.

Objective: This study aimed to quantify the short-term buildup of olivocochlear suppression of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) in humans by varying the duration of a contralateral suppressor. Specifically, we tested whether suppression magnitude changes with different durations of interrupted wideband noise (2, 4, and 6 seconds) and examined whether efferent suppression strength relates to speech-in-noise performance.

Design: A within-subject design was used to compare TEOAE suppression across three contralateral block durations. Behavioural speech-in-noise measures (WIN test) were obtained to evaluate potential associations between efferent activity and perceptual outcomes.

Study sample: Thirty-one adults (ages 20-29) with clinically normal hearing and no history of otologic or neurologic disorders participated.

Results: Olivocochlear suppression magnitude increased with longer (6s) contralateral noise durations, indicating a short-term buildup of efferent activity over several seconds. No significant ear differences were observed. While suppression strength did not correlate with the 50% speech recognition threshold, stronger suppression was associated with steeper psychometric slopes, suggesting a link between efferent function and perceptual efficiency.

Conclusions: Findings demonstrate a time-dependent buildup of medial olivocochlear activity. The relationship between suppression magnitude and psychometric slope implies that stronger efferent function may contribute to adaptive listening strategies in challenging acoustic environments.

Objectives: To examine how audibility affects digits-in-noise (DIN) recognition, and how age and hearing loss influence recognition after audibility compensation.

Design: Pure-tone thresholds and speech perception thresholds (SRTs) were measured. The SRTs were obtained using a DIN-test at 70 dB SPL noise-level with the standard speech/noise spectrum (DIN₇₀) and at individually adjusted speech levels with a high-frequency tilted spectrum (DIN_var) to optimise audibility. The speech intelligibility index (SII) was used to correct for audibility effects in the DIN₇₀ test.

Study sample: 1575 older adults from the population-based Rotterdam Study with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, of which 713 participants had a DIN_var measurement. This subgroup had significantly better hearing thresholds.

Results: With the DIN₇₀ test, significant associations with age (ζ = 0.11) and the pure-tone average (PTA) (ζ = 0.32) were found for the entire population. After SII-modelling, these were substantially reduced (age: ζ = 0.06, and PTA: ζ = 0.08). The SRT of the DIN_var test also revealed weak relationships with age (ζ = 0.04) and PTA (ζ = 0.05).

Conclusions: Audibility is the primary determinant of digit triplets-in-noise recognition in older adults with mild to moderate age-related hearing loss. After compensation of audibility, there is hardly any effect of supra-threshold deficits related to age and PTA.

Objective: To explore the influence of age on wideband energy absorbance (EA), measured via Wideband Acoustic Immittance, by synthesising normative data across a wide age range.

Design: A systematic review was conducted to combine normative WAI data from 30 eligible publications. EA values at ambient pressure were analysed across different frequencies for eight age-based groups, spanning neonates to individuals aged 80 years.

Study sample: The review collectively analysed data from 6,630 ears with normal middle ear conditions, involving 4196 individuals spanning ages from neonates to 80 years.

Results: The combined EA values, averaged across different frequencies at ambient pressure, ranged from 0.403 to 0.581 across the eight age groups. The highest EA level was observed in individuals younger than 6 months, while the 6- and 12-month age groups exhibited the lowest average EA. A trend of increasing EA values was noted as age progressed beyond 12-months, peaking between ages 10-13 years, followed by a decline in individuals older than 13-years. Frequency-specific analyses revealed significant differences in EA values at octave frequencies between 0.25 kHz and 8.0 kHz, particularly at 1.0 and 4.0 kHz.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of age-specific norms in clinical practice to ensure accurate interpretation and diagnosis.

Objective: This study examines how concepts from Behavioural Economics (BE) can provide insights into the factors influencing decisions to seek help for hearing difficulties from a hearing health professional.

Design: A qualitative approach was used, involving semi-structured interviews with individuals experiencing hearing difficulties who had not yet sought help from a hearing health professional. Thematic analysis was conducted, and responses were interpreted using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Attention, Belief formation, Choice, Determination (ABCD) framework in conjunction with BE principles to explore cognitive and contextual influences to getting hearing help.

Study sample: Fifteen participants (aged 57-81, mean age 68 years) were recruited through targeted advertisements. All participants reported noticing hearing difficulties but had not undergone formal hearing assessments or used hearing aids.

Results: Participants often minimised the importance of their hearing difficulties, attributing them to ageing or external factors, and described reliance on coping strategies as sufficient for managing daily communication. Perceptions of stigma, uncertainty about the help-seeking process, and beliefs about the thresholds for needing professional help appeared to influence delays in action. While participants expressed intentions to seek help in the future, their responses reflected a tendency to defer action. Many of these barriers are representative of cognitive biases, including the attribution of personal deficiencies to external factors, and the desire to minimise losses over gains.

Conclusions: Applying a BE perspective to hearing health help-seeking decisions offers a nuanced understanding of the psychological and contextual barriers to help-seeking. Interventions that raise awareness of hearing difficulties and reframe help-seeking in ways that address cognitive biases may support earlier engagement with hearing services.

Objective: To provide updated estimates of age-related hearing loss in the Dutch population, focusing on older age groups, and to explore implications for hearing rehabilitation including cochlear implant candidacy.

Design: Population-based, prospective cohort study.

Study sample: Data from the Rotterdam Study, collected between 2011 and July 2024, including 7,772 unscreened participants aged 40 years and older.

Results: Hearing loss greater than 35 dBHL (pure-tone average at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz in the better ear) was observed in 31% of men and 30% of women aged ≥65 years. Among adults aged ≥80 years, 62% of men and 57% of women met this criterion. Different audiological criteria for cochlear implant candidacy were assessed to estimate potential growth in this candidate population. Among adults aged ≥80 years, the proportion meeting cochlear implant criteria may increase up to a tenfold (from 0.7% to 7.0%), depending on the definition applied.

Conclusions: This study highlights the need to address age-related hearing loss as a growing public health challenge. With ongoing population ageing, the demand for hearing rehabilitation, including cochlear implants, is expected to rise. Timely identification, referral, and innovative care models are essential to meet the increasing needs of older adults with hearing loss.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of implementing remote microphones in group exercise environments.

Design: This study used a modified effectiveness-implementation hybrid design, with an electroacoustic assessment of hearing aid remote microphones using manikins as simulated talkers and listeners. Test conditions were at varying distances, azimuths, and reverberation levels in exercise environments. The listener manikins were programmed to simulate mild-to-moderate sloping audiograms and were fitted with three brands of premium receiver-in-the-canal style hearing aids, including their proprietary remote microphones (both low- and high-technology levels). Recordings of these conditions were compared to the reference recordings using the Hearing Aid Speech Perception Index.

Study sample: This was a manikin-based research study, therefore, human subjects were not recruited.

Results: Remote microphones produced higher speech perception scores than hearing aids alone regardless of reverberation levels, hearing loss, or the distances and azimuths relative to the simulated talker. Remote microphones were shown to be feasible to implement in exercise environments.

Conclusions: Remote microphone technology may be beneficial to exercisers with hearing loss in exercise environments, however, this area remains highly understudied. Future behavioural assessments of remote microphones in environments with individuals with hearing loss are discussed.

Objective: The present study aims to investigate the impact of advancing age on the response parameters of masseter vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (mVEMP) elicited using various stimulation frequencies.

Design: mVEMP responses were recorded from participants at six stimulus frequencies-250, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, and 2000 Hz-using tone burst stimuli. Response parameters including P1 and N1 latencies, peak-to-peak amplitude, Inter-Aural Amplitude Ratio (IAAR), and Inter-Frequency Amplitude Ratio (IFAR) were analysed to assess the effects of ageing on mVEMP.

Study sample: Sixty participants were divided into three age groups: younger adults (18-35 years), middle-aged adults (36-55 years), and older adults (>55 years).

Result: A significant prolongation of absolute latencies and a reduction in EMG-scaled peak-to-peak amplitude were observed among participants with increasing age. No significant age-related changes were found on N1 latency or IAAR. IFAR values steadily increased with advancing age.

Conclusion: The commonly used 500 Hz stimulus may not be optimal for eliciting mVEMP responses in middle-aged and older adults. For improved diagnostic accuracy, frequencies of 750 Hz and/or 1000 Hz should be considered for these age groups.

Objective: Listening-related fatigue can be a significant problem for some people with hearing loss. However, such fatigue is rarely assessed by audiologists due, in part, to the scarcity of assessment tools, especially in non-English languages. The goal of this study was to validate the short and long versions of the Spanish Vanderbilt Fatigue Scales for Adults (SP-VFS-As).

Design: A between-groups, cross-sectional, study was used to evaluate the psychometric properties, validity, and reliability of the SP-VFS-As. Participants completed the scales online using Qualtrics software.

Study sample: Participants were 287 adults between 18 to >86 years old (206 females; 117 with hearing loss) from 17 countries. Of these, 81 participants completed the scales a second time for reliability purposes.

Results: Analyses revealed excellent known-groups validity. The test-retest reliability showed high internal consistency. Factor analyses suggested a unidimensional structure for the scales, consistent with the original English versions.

Conclusions: The SP-VFS-As are psychometrically valid, reliable, and appropriate for assessing listening-related fatigue in Spanish speakers.

Objectives: This study investigates barriers to hearing aid acquisition and usage in nursing homes from the residents' perspective.

Design and study sample: 85 residents (mean age 83.8 years) were recruited from four nursing homes. Residents underwent pure tone and speech audiograms, completed the Nursing Home Hearing Index (NHHI), and a questionnaire on hearing aids.

Results: 25 residents had untreated severe hearing loss (29.4%), but many were reluctant to pursue rehabilitation (15/25). Those hesitant to adopt hearing aids had less severe hearing loss (55.2 dB vs. 66.0 dB for residents open towards hearing aids), were less aware of their hearing loss, felt less impact in their daily life (NHHI 29.3pts vs. 40.4pts), and held more negative preconceptions towards hearing aids. Among residents that already used hearing aids, problems with practical handling were the predominant barrier to regular use, followed by lack of perceived benefit, and barriers in healthcare access.

Conclusions: Raising early awareness for hearing loss is important to improve chances for rehabilitation. Educating medical staff in hearing health is crucial to raise awareness for hearing loss, support residents in daily life, and improve adherence to hearing aids. On-site services are essential for nursing homes to facilitate access to healthcare providers.