Journal of Audiology and Otology最新文献

Background and objectives: Wireless streaming technology (WT), designed to transmit sounds directly from a mobile phone to hearing aids, was developed to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. However, the advantages of WT during phone use and the specific demographic that can fully benefit from this technology has not been thoroughly evaluated. We aimed to investigate the benefits and identify predictive factors associated with bilateral wireless streaming among hearing aid users.

Subjects and methods: Eighteen adults with symmetrical, bilateral hearing loss participated in the study. To assess the benefits of wireless streaming during phone use, researchers assessed sentence/word recognition and listening effort in two scenarios: a noisy background with WT turned "OFF" or "ON." Listening effort was evaluated through self-reported measurements. Cognitive function was also assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score.

Results: Participant mean age was 57.3 years (range 27-70), and the mean MoCA score was 27.0 (23-30). The activation of WT demonstrated a significant improvement in the sentence/word recognition test and reduced listening effort. The MoCA score showed a significant correlation with WT (ρ=0.59, p=0.01), suggesting a positive association between cognitive function and the benefits of WT.

Conclusions: Bilateral wireless streaming may enhance sentence/word recognition and reduce listening effort during phone use in hearing aid users, with these benefits potentially linked to cognitive function.

Background and objectives: Cochlear schwannomas, which are categorized into intracochlear and intravestibulocochlear schwannomas (ICs and IVCs, respectively) are rare and may cause hearing loss (HL). The affected region is invariably correlated with tumor location, which can be detected on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We describe the cochleovestibular manifestations of ICs and IVCs.

Subjects and methods: The study included 31 patients with ICs or IVCs. Tumor extent and exact locations were delineated using MRI. Types of HL were subcategorized into the low-to-mid frequency (250 Hz to 1 kHz), mid-to-high frequency (>1 kHz), and all-frequency (universal) HL groups.

Results: The tumors involved the entire cochlear turn (two ICs) or extended beyond the cochleae (nine IVCs) in 11 patients, and 20 ICs were located in specific locations as follows: 14 in the basal, 3 in the middle, and 3 in the middle and apical turns. No patient showed tumor invasion of the internal auditory canal or middle ear. The pattern of HL usually reflects the location or extent of a tumor. We observed HL at all frequencies, at low-to-mid frequencies, and at mid-to-high frequencies in 13, 4, and 14 patients, respectively. Dizziness or tinnitus was observed in >50% of patients. Surgical tumor removal was performed in 10 patients, and the remaining patients are undergoing annual monitoring.

Conclusions: Cochlear schwannomas may be associated with HL, which may worsen over time and reflect tumor location. Therefore, these lesions should be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients who present with idiopathic, fluctuating, progressive or sudden HL.

Background and objectives: Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a sensorineural disease that is associated with a number of factors. In addition to age, sex, environment, lifestyle, and comorbidities are all known to be related to ARHL as well. The prevalence of ARHL can be reduced by controlling the adjustable factors that cause it. Vitamin D levels are strongly related to calcium metabolism, which can affect ARHL. This study aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D and ARHL.

Subjects and methods: A total of 1,104 subjects aged >65 years were enrolled from the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which was conducted from 2010-2012. Every participant received both an audiological assessment and a nutritional survey. The association between ARHL and serum vitamin D concentration was analyzed using logistic regression analyses with complex sampling adjusted for confounding factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking status, mobility, and bone mineral density.

Results: Our multivariable analysis revealed that males in the group with lower serum levels of vitamin D (< 20 ng/mL) had a higher prevalence of ARHL (odds ratio, 1.638, 95% confidence interval, 1.058-2.538, p=0.027).

Conclusions: This finding suggests that lower serum levels of vitamin D are associated with ARHL in the older male population.

Background and objectives: Hearing loss is the largest potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. Early evaluation and intervention are crucial for older adults with cognitive impairment. However, pure-tone audiometry (PTA), the gold standard, may have limitations. This study reviewed auditory tests for detecting hearing loss in this population, comparing to PTA.

Materials and methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we conducted a systematic review in PubMed, Scopus, and Embase. Ten studies (1,071 participants) comparing auditory tests and PTA in patients with dementia and mild cognitive impairment were included.

Results: Electrophysiological and behavioral tests demonstrated strong correlation and accurate hearing impairment detection compared to PTA. Conversely, self-reported assessment showed weaker correlations when aligned with hearing thresholds.

Conclusions: This study highlights the potential of electrophysiological and behavioral auditory tests in detecting hearing impairment in older adults with cognitive impairment, emphasizing the need for further research to develop practical screening protocols for this vulnerable population.

Myofibromatosis is a proliferative disorder characterized by the development of soft tissue neoplasms referred to as myofibromas that predominantly occur in infants and young children. These lesions have been described using varied terminologies since they were first reported in 1951. However, these neoplasms are histopathologically characterized by benign fibroblast and myofibroblast proliferation containing a biphasic presentation of spindle-shaped cells surrounding a central zone of less differentiated cells arranged in a hemangiopericytoma-like pattern in all cases. Usually, myofibromatosis occurs in children aged <2 years and is observed at birth in nearly 60% of cases. We report a rare case of myofibroma in an 8-year-old boy who presented with an approximately 6-month history of a left postauricular mass. Histopathological evaluation of the resected mass confirmed the diagnosis.

Background and objectives: Frequency-lowering (FL) algorithms improve the audibility of high-frequency sounds by shifting inaudible high-frequency components to audible low-frequency regions. However, the FL algorithm has yielded mixed findings. This study involved two experiments. The first experiment investigated whether objective and subjective auditory outcomes would be enhanced by activating frequency composition (Fcomp), which is a type of FL technique. The second experiment determined whether auditory training with Fcomp activation would provide perceptual benefits to older hearing aid users.

Subjects and methods: Twelve older hearing aid users with moderate to profound high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. In Experiment I, all participants received a 4-week adaptation period to Fcomp before the measurement, and then the influence of Fcomp was evaluated. In Experiment II, among the 12 participants in Experiment I, five received 8-week phoneme-based auditory training while activating Fcomp, whereas the remaining seven did not receive training but continued to use Fcomp as non-trained controls.

Results: In Experiment I, 4-week passive accli-matization period to Fcomp did not improve speech-in-quiet recognition or self-perceived sound quality. In Experiment II, active pho-neme-based training enhanced recognition of consonants and words as well as better speech-quality ratings for trained participants. The consecutive use of Fcomp did not lead to any differences for non-trained participants.

Conclusions: Overall, phoneme-based auditory training would allow older hearing aid users to relearn frequency-lowered speech sounds and reduce phonetic confusion. However, the analytical training approach did not lead to transfer to sentence recognition or overall satisfaction with the hearing aids.

The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is a noninvasive test that measures neural activity in response to auditory stimuli. Racial differences in head shape have provided strong evidence for specific normative data and accurate device calibration. International standards emphasize the need for standardized procedures and references. This study aimed to outline the standard procedure and related normative ABR values. Standard procedures were performed according to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards. Five studies from two countries were included to compare the normative values of the ABR. The dataset from the National Standard Reference Data Center (NSRDC) was used as reference. Normative values were described in terms of stimuli, latency, and amplitude. For click stimuli, the latency of the ABR showed different patterns across populations, such as those from Korea and the USA. Although the latencies reported by the NSRDC and for Koreans were relatively short, those reported for USA populations were longer. Using clicks, it was shown that the USA population had the largest ABR amplitude compared to those reported for the other two datasets. For Wave V latency using tone bursts, a similar pattern was identified with click stimuli. Frequency-specific trends were also observed. Although there is a lack of ABR datasets, the information and insights of the present study could be utilized as standard guidelines in research on ABR.

Background and objectives: Masseter vestibular evoked myogenic potential (mVEMP) is a newly developed tool which is used to assess the vestibulo-trigeminal neural and saccular functioning pathways. Recently, this test was added to a full test battery for evaluating the brainstem of people with neurological disorders and other vestibular diseases. For any test to qualify as a standard test, the test must have high reliability across all testing windows. Hence, the present study focused on validating the reliability of mVEMP in a large population.

Subjects and methods: The study included 50 healthy participants with normal hearing. All the participants were tested using mVEMP and underwent retest within a month after the initial test. All parameters (latencies, peak-to-peak amplitude, asymmetric ratio) were observed for both sessions. To determine the statistically significant differences between and across the sessions, non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used.

Results: The test-retest reliability of all parameters were observed. The reliability was fair-to-good for P11 and N21 latencies. The other parameters showed less significance. There were no significant differences in sex and ear comparisons between and across the sessions.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that the mVEMP is a reliable test which can be used to assess peripheral vestibular system dysfunction and neurological conditions.

Background and objectives: Tinnitus affects individuals' quality of life, and multiple surveys have been conducted to assess this effect. One questionnaire used is the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Central Kurdish version of the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire (TPFQ-CK).

Subjects and methods: We obtained permission from the originator of the TPFQ to proceed with this study. The English version was translated into Central Kurdish, following guidelines for the cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality-of-life measures. A total of 205 participants who self-reported having subjective tinnitus for more than 3 months were included in this study. The TPFQ-CK and Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) were administered to all participants. Additionally, pure-tone audiometry was conducted.

Results: Internal consistency of the TPFQ-CK was reflected in the total score (Cronbach's alpha=0.933), and excellent consistency was present in test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=1.000). The concordance correlation coefficient (concordance correlation coefficient=0.999) of the total TPFQ-CK score revealed high concordance and correlation between the two evaluations. The good construct validity of the TPFQ-CK was evidenced by the strong correlation (r=0.895) between the TPFQ-CK and THQ scores.

Conclusions: The TPFQ-CK is a valid and reliable assessment tool for evaluating the influence of tinnitus on the quality of life of Central Kurdish speakers with tinnitus.