International Journal of Audiology最新文献

Objective: This scoping review systematically describes how EMA has been applied to assess auditory experiences among individuals with hearing loss in published research studies.

Design: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The final search was completed on 15 May 2025. Data were synthesised narratively.

Study sample: Forty-nine studies published between 2002 and 2025 were included. Eligible studies included individuals of any age with diagnosed hearing loss using hearing devices or accessing hearing healthcare services.

Results: All studies were conducted in high-income countries. Most participants were adults with hearing loss using hearing devices; one study included paediatric participants. EMA was predominantly administered via smartphones and primarily employed prompted surveys with closed-ended questions over one week. Data logging featured in over half the studies. Study aims varied, with the acoustic environment being the outcome most frequently measured. Compliance rates were generally high; technological challenges were the main barrier to EMA completion.

Conclusions: EMA offers a complementary approach for assessing real-world hearing experiences. Future research should focus on consistent methods, protocol standardisation, cultural adaptation, demographic diversity, and multimodal input to enhance EMA's clinical value.

Objective: This study investigates how adults with hearing aids navigate aural rehabilitation services in Denmark, using Bourdieu's concepts to explore how structural conditions shape help-seeking and service use.

Design and study sample: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 adults with hearing aids (9 men, 18 women) and six hearing healthcare professionals. Interviews lasted 30-90 minutes and were held either in person or online.

Results: Although aural rehabilitation services including communication strategy counselling, psychosocial support and auditory training are publicly funded and free of charge, participants reported uneven awareness and access. Two key themes emerged: (1) limited knowledge of available services and their perceived benefits, and (2) unequal distributions of social, and cultural capital shaping participants' ability to navigate the aural rehabilitation system. Help-seeking was influenced by the logic of the field, which determines what counts as valuable capital and who is positioned to make use of it.

Conclusions: Findings highlight systemic inequities in awareness and access to aural rehabilitation among hearing aid users. Strengthening informational outreach and integrating navigation support into hearing care pathways. Addressing structural barriers are essential to ensure equitable access and realise the full potential of publicly funded aural rehabilitation services.

Objective: Variability in cochlear implant (CI) performance has traditionally been linked to pre-operative factors. This study examined the impact of daily CI wear time on post-operative performance in adult recipients.

Design and study sample: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 158 adult CI users comparing pre- and post-operative factors contributing to performance after one year of use. Participants were divided into post hoc groups for analysis: those wearing their CI less than 10 hours per day (n = 46) and those wearing it 10 or more hours per day (n = 112).

Results: Daily CI wear time was correlated with speech perception scores (CNC Words, r = 0.44, AzBio, r = 0.37). Regression analyses found that average wear time and age significantly predicted AzBio scores (R² = 0.21) while wear time and duration of hearing loss predicted CNC Scores (R² = 0.28).

Conclusion: Average daily CI wear time, age at implantation and duration of hearing loss are reliable predictors of speech perception scores. Individuals wearing their CI for at least 10 hours per day scored significantly higher than those wearing it less than 10 hours per day. Data suggest earliest possible implantation and CI use of at least 10 hours per day is beneficial.

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.