Can audiometric results predict qualitative hearing improvements in bone-anchored hearing aid recipients?

2013 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
M L McNeil ◽  
M Gulliver ◽  
D P Morris ◽  
F M Makki ◽  
M Bance
Keyword(s):  
Pure Tone ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Subjective Evaluation ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Hearing Threshold ◽  
Sound Field ◽  
Hearing Aid Fitting ◽  
Pure Tone Average ◽  
Hearing Handicap ◽  
Bone Anchored Hearing Aid

AbstractIntroduction:Patients receiving a bone-anchored hearing aid have well-documented improvements in their quality of life and audiometric performance. However, the relationship between audiometric measurements and subjective improvement is not well understood.Methods:Adult patients enrolled in the Nova Scotia bone-anchored hearing aid programme were identified. The pure tone average for fitting the sound-field threshold, as well as the better and worse hearing ear bone conduction and air conduction levels, were collected pre-operatively. Recipients were asked to complete the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing questionnaire; their partners were asked to complete a pre- and post-bone anchored hearing aid fitting Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults questionnaire.Results:Forty-eight patients who completed and returned the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing questionnaire had partners who completed the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults questionnaire. The results from the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing questionnaire correlated with the sound-field hearing threshold post-bone-anchored hearing aid fitting and the pure tone average of the better hearing ear bone conduction (total Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale to the pre-operative better hearing ear air curve (r = 0.3); worse hearing ear air curve (r = 0.27); post-operative, bone-anchored hearing aid-aided sound-field thresholds (r = 0.35)). An improvement in sound-field threshold correlated only with spatial abilities. In the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults questionnaire, there was no correlation between the subjective evaluation of each patient and their partner.Conclusion:The subjective impressions of hearing aid recipients with regards to speech reception and the spatial qualities of hearing correlate well with pre-operative audiometric results. However, the overall magnitude of sound-field improvement predicts an improvement of spatial perception, but not other aspects of hearing, resulting in hearing aid recipients having strongly disparate subjective impressions when compared to those of their partners.

scholarly journals Functional hearing results in patients with otosclerosis before and after stapedotomy

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 54-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragan Dankuc ◽  
Nemanja Pejakovic ◽  
Zoran Komazec ◽  
Ljiljana Vlaski
Keyword(s):  
Pure Tone ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Hearing Threshold ◽  
Pure Tone Audiometry ◽  
Diagnostic Procedures ◽  
Functional Results ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Pure Tone Average ◽  
Before And After ◽  
New Perspective

Surgical treatment of otosclerosis with stapedotomy leads to the improvement of subjective and objective problems in patients with otosclerosis. A prospective study included patients who had been treated surgically at the Department for Ear, Nose and Throat in Novi Sad in the period from September 2006 to September 2007. On the basis of the appropriate diagnostic procedures, 33 patients were diagnosed with otosclerosis. Functional hearing was assessed before and after surgery by means of pure tone audiometry. The comparison of functional results before and after surgery revealed no changes in pure tone average of bone conduction threshold (average hearing threshold for hearing range), whereas pure tone average of air conduction and pure tone average of the gap showed statistically significant improvement. The results of this study demonstrated the applicability of stapedotomy as a method for successful management of otosclerosis. This way of examination offers a new perspective on patients? health, which should be defined as a physical, psychosocial and social well-being, and not only the absence of a disease itself.

Factors Affecting Hearing Aid Adoption by Adults With High-Frequency Hearing Loss: The Beaver Dam Offspring Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Weycker ◽  
Lauren K. Dillard ◽  
Alex Pinto ◽  
Mary E. Fischer ◽  
Karen J. Cruickshanks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Pure Tone Average ◽  
Beaver Dam ◽  
Hearing Handicap ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Hearing loss (HL) is common among middle-age and older adults, but hearing aid adoption is low. The purpose of this study was to measure the 10-year incidence of hearing aid adoption in a sample of primarily middle-age adults with high-frequency HL and identify factors associated with hearing aid adoption. Method This study included 579 adults (ages 34–80 years) with high-frequency pure-tone average > 25 dB HL (3–8 kHz) enrolled in the Beaver Dam Offspring Study. Hearing aid adoption was measured at 5- and 10-year follow-up examinations. Cox discrete-time proportional hazards models were used to evaluate factors associated with hearing aid adoption (presented as hazards ratios [HRs] and 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]). Results The 10-year cumulative incidence of hearing aid adoption was 14 per 1,000 person years. Factors significantly associated with adoption in a multivariable model were higher education (vs. 16+ years; 0–12: HR: 0.36, 95% CI [0.19, 0.69]; 13–15: HR: 0.52, 95% CI [0.27, 0.98]), worse high-frequency pure-tone average (per +1 dB; HR: 1.04, 95% CI [1.02, 1.06]), self-reported hearing handicap (screening versions of the Hearing Handicap Inventory score > 8; HR: 1.85, 95% CI [1.02, 3.38]), answering yes to “Do friends and relatives think you have a hearing problem?” (HR: 3.18, 95% CI [1.60, 6.33]) and using closed captions (HR: 2.86, 95% CI [1.08, 7.57]). Effects of age and sex were not significant. Conclusions Hearing aid adoption rates were low. Hearing sensitivity, socioeconomic status, and measures of the impact of HL on daily life were associated with adoption. Provider awareness of associated factors can contribute to timely and appropriate intervention.

The Effect of Monaurally Fitted Hearing Aid Use on the Evolution of Presbycusis

2021 ◽  
pp. 000348942199527
Author(s):  
Gabriel Dunya ◽  
Fadi Najem ◽  
Aurelie Mailhac ◽  
Samer Abou Rizk ◽  
Marc Bassim
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Residual Hearing ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Pure Tone Average ◽  
Hearing Aid Use ◽  
Deprivation Effect ◽  
Significant Difference

Objective: The effect of hearing aid use on the evolution of presbycusis has not been well described in the literature, with only a handful of publications addressing this topic. This paper aims to evaluate the long-term use of amplification and its effect on pure-tone thresholds and word recognition scores. Method: Monaurally fitted patients were followed with serial audiograms. Data was collected from hearing aid centers. Seventy-seven patients with presbycusis met the inclusion criteria and participated in the present study. The progression of hearing loss in both pure tone thresholds and word recognition scores were compared between the hearing aid ears (HA), and the non-hearing aid ears (NHA). Pure tone thresholds were analyzed by comparing the pure tone average at the initial and last audiograms. Word Recognition Scores (WRS) were analyzed using the model of Thornton and Raffin (1978), and by comparing the change in the absolute values of WRS from the initial to the last audiogram between the HA ear and the NHA ear. Results: No significant difference in pure-tone thresholds between the HA ear and NHA ear was found at the last audiogram ( P = .696), even after dividing the patients into groups based on the duration of amplification. Both methods of analysis of patients’ WRS showed a statistically significant worsening in NHA ( P < .05). Conclusion: The present study supports the previously defined auditory deprivation effect on non-fitted ears, which showed worsening of word recognition over time and no effect on pure tone average. It provides an additional argument for the counseling of patients with presbycusis considering amplification, and highlights the importance of bilateral amplification in preserving the residual hearing of hearing impaired patients.

Interactions between Cognition, Compression, and Listening Conditions: Effects on Speech-in-Noise Performance in a Two-Channel Hearing Aid

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (07) ◽  
pp. 604-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Lunner ◽  
Elisabet Sundewall-Thorén
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Test Procedure ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Cognitive Test ◽  
Fast Time ◽  
Time Constants ◽  
Pure Tone Average

This study which included 23 experienced hearing aid users replicated several of the experiments reported in Gatehouse et al (2003, 2006) with new speech test material, language, and test procedure. The performance measure used was SNR required for 80% correct words in a sentence test. Consistent with Gatehouse et al, this study indicated that subjects showing a low score in a cognitive test (visual letter monitoring) performed better in the speech recognition test with slow time constants than with fast time constants, and performed better in unmodulated noise than in modulated noise, while subjects with high scores on the cognitive test showed the opposite pattern. Furthermore, cognitive test scores were significantly correlated with the differential advantage of fast-acting versus slow-acting compression in conditions of modulated noise.The pure tone average threshold explained 30% of the variance in aided speech recognition in noise under relatively simple listening conditions, while cognitive test scores explained about 40% of the variance under more complex, fluctuating listening conditions, where the pure tone average explained less than 5% of the variance. This suggests that speech recognition under steady-state noise conditions may underestimate the role of cognition in real-life listening.

Differences in Force Levels, Word Recognition in Quiet, Sentence Reception Threshold in Noise, and Subjective Outcomes for a Bone-Anchored Hearing Device Programmed Using Manufacturer First-Fit, Aided Sound-Field Thresholds and Programmed to DSL-BCD Using a Skull Simulator

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (07) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Adam Voss ◽  
Alison Brockmeyer ◽  
Michael Valente ◽  
John Pumford ◽  
Cameron C. Wick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Sound Field ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Best Practice Guidelines ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Hearing Devices ◽  
Subjective Outcomes

Abstract Background Best practice guidelines for verifying fittings of bone-anchored hearing devices (BAHD) recommend using aided sound-field thresholds (ASFT), but express caution regarding the variables impacting obtaining valid and reliable ASFTs.1 Recently, a skull simulator was introduced to facilitate programming BAHD devices in force level (FL) to desired sensation level-bone conduction devices (skull simulator/DSL-BCD)2 3 targets in a hearing aid analyzer. Currently, no evidence is available reporting if differences in measured FL using the manufacturer first-fit (FF) and word recognition in quiet, sentence reception threshold in noise, and subjective outcomes are present for a BAHD programmed using ASFT versus programmed using skull simulator/DSL-BCD targets. Purpose The aim of this study was to examine if significant differences were present in FL using the FF and word recognition in quiet at 50 and 65 decibel of sound pressure level (dB SPL), sentence reception threshold in noise and subjective outcomes using the abbreviated profile of hearing aid benefit (APHAB), and speech, spatial, and qualities of hearing (SSQ) between a BAHD fit using ASFT or skull simulator/DSL-BCD targets. Research Design A double-blind randomized crossover design with 15 adults having unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. All participants were successful users of the Cochlear America Baha 5. Data Collection and Analysis Baha Power 5 devices were fit using FF, ASFT, and skull simulator/DSL-BCD targets. Order of the three fitting strategies was randomly assigned and counter-balanced. Results No significant differences were found for a BAHD device programmed using ASFT versus skull simulator/DSL-BCD targets for consonant-nucleus-consonant words in quiet at 50 or 65 dB SPL, sentence reception threshold in noise, the APHAB or SSQ. There were, however, significant differences, at primarily 500 to 2,000 Hz in measured FLs between the FF, ASFT, and skull simulator/DSL-BCD targets at 50 and 65 dB SPL. Conclusions There were no significant differences in subject performance with two speech measures and subjective responses to two questionnaires for BAHD fittings using ASFT versus using skull simulator/DSL-BCD targets. Differences in FL between the three fitting strategies were present primarily at 500 to 2,000 Hz. Limitations of the study are highlighted along with situations where the skull simulator can play a significantly beneficial role when fitting BAHD devices.

A Speech-to-Noise Ratio Test with the Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid: A Comparative Study

1986 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peder Carlsson ◽  
Bo Håkansson ◽  
Ulf Rosenhall ◽  
Anders Tjellström
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Ratio Test ◽  
Speech Discrimination ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Minor Surgery ◽  
Bone Anchored Hearing Aid ◽  
Bone Conduction Hearing ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Bone Conduction Hearing Aid

Hitherto, for persons with impaired hearing who cannot use an air conduction hearing aid, the only alternative has been a conventional spring-loaded bone conduction hearing aid. Now, with minor surgery, a titanium screw can be implanted in the bone behind the ear and a coupling, which penetrates the skin, can be attached, giving a new kind of hearing aid—the “bone-anchored hearing aid.” Improved quality of sound is one of the patients’ subjective assessments. Improvement was not confirmed by a standard speech-discrimination test. With new speech material consisting of sentences in noise, the speech-to-noise ratio (SN) has been determined for 24 patients. Patients who previously used a conventional bone conduction hearing aid improved their SN on the average by 3.3 dB. The most important difference between the two aids related to improved SN is probably the increased audibility between 600 and 6000 Hz.

Perceived Hearing Handicap of Patients with Unilateral or Mild Hearing Loss

1997 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig W. Newman ◽  
Gerald A. Hug ◽  
Gary P. Jacobson ◽  
Sharon A. Sandridge
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Hearing Level ◽  
Intersubject Variability ◽  
Pure Tone Average ◽  
Hearing Handicap ◽  
Mild Hearing Loss ◽  
The Individual

Using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA), we assessed self-perceived hearing handicap in a sample of 63 patients having either unilaterally normal hearing or a mild hearing loss (pure tone average ≤40 dB hearing level). Large intersubject variability in responses to the HHIA confirmed observations that reactions to minimal hearing impairment vary greatly among patients. The individual differences in responses highlight the importance of quantifying the perceived communication and psychosocial handicap, which cannot be determined from the audiogram alone. An item examination of responses to the HHIA revealed a number of emotional and social-situational problems encountered by patients with minimal hearing loss.

Interchangeability of three different methods of calculating Pure Tone Average in patients with vestibular schwannoma to assess the risk of surgery-related hearing loss

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Ochal-Choińska ◽  
Magdalena Lachowska ◽  
Katarzyna Kurczak ◽  
Kazimierz Niemczyk
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Vestibular Schwannoma ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Hearing Threshold ◽  
Middle Cranial Fossa ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Pure Tone Average ◽  
Hearing Status ◽  
Status Assessment ◽  
Cranial Fossa

Background: Patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS) most commonly present with hearing threshold reduction for high frequencies and a falling type of audiometric curve. However, it is doubtful whether all Pure Tone Averages described in the literature characterize patients with VS correctly, as the type of PTA which comprises higher frequencies may be more appropriate for hearing status assessment in those patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze 3 common methods of calculating Pure Tone Averages (PTA1 - 500, 1000, 2000 and 3000 Hz; PTA2 - 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz; PTA3 – 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz) and to determine which of them is the most reliable for the assessment of VS patients. Material and Methods: The study group included 86 patients operated due to vestibular schwannoma accessed via the middle cranial fossa. Results: Regarding method of calculating Pure Tone Averages (PTA1, PTA2 and PTA3) identical or similar correlations were found between the preoperative values of Pure Tone Averages (PTA1, PTA2 and PTA3) and surgery-related hearing loss, as well as individual parameters of audiologic tests. Conclusions: Pure Tone Averages calculated according to 3 different methods (PTA1, PTA2, PTA3) may be used interchangeably in the assessment of hearing in VS patients.

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