Characteristics of Real-World Signal to Noise Ratios and Speech Listening Situations of Older Adults With Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss

We investigated the associations between hearing aids (HA) and the maintenance of cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults with moderate hearing loss. A total of 407 participants aged 60 years or older with moderate hearing loss were recruited from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences, Longitudinal Study for Aging (NILS-LSA). Moderate hearing loss was defined as a pure-tone average of 40–69 dB at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz of the better ear, according to the definition proposed by the Japan Audiological Society. Cognitive function was evaluated using the four subtests of the Japanese version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Short Forms (WAIS-R-SF): Information, Similarities, Picture completion, and Digit Symbol Substitution (DSST). A longitudinal analysis of 1192 observations with a mean follow-up period of 4.5 ± 3.9 years was performed. The HA use rate at any time during the follow-up period was 31.4%, and HA users were significantly younger (t-test, p = 0.001), had worse hearing (p < .0001) and higher education (p = 0.001), participated more frequently in the survey (p < .0001), and were less depressed (χ2 test, p = 0.003) than the older adults not using HA. General linear mixed models consisted of the fixed effects of HA use, follow-up time, and an HA use × time interaction term adjusted for age and pure-tone average thresholds at baseline, sex, education, and other possible confounders. HA use showed significant main effects on the scores for Picture completion and DSST after adjustment; scores were better in the HA use group than in the no HA use group. The HA use × time interaction was significant for the Information score (p = 0.040). The model-predicted 12-year slope with centralizing age indicated that the no HA use group showed greater decline over time on Information scores than did HA use group. The slopes did not differ between HA users and non-users for the Similarities, Picture completion and DSST. In conclusion, HA use may have a protective effect on the decline in general knowledge in older adults with moderate hearing loss.

Download Full-text

Perception of Deep Band Modulated Speech in the Presence of Noise by Elderly Individuals with Hearing Impairment

Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery ◽

10.24966/ohns-010x/100061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Hearing Loss ◽

Temporal Resolution ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Recognition Score ◽

Signal To Noise ◽

The Poor ◽

Processing Ability ◽

Age Range

Background: Deep band modulation (DBM) is an envelope enhancement strategy that enhances temporal modulation and may provide a cue for speech understanding among individuals who suffer from temporal processing deficits. Objective: To investigate the effect of deep band modulation on phrase recognition scores at different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) among older adults having hearing loss classified as good and poor performers based on temporal resolution ability. Method: Phrase recognition score was obtained for unprocessed and DBM phrases at three SNRs (4, 5, and - 4 dB signal to noise ratio) in 25 (age range 60 to 82 years, mean age 71.48 years) older adults having bilateral mild to moderately severe sloping sensorineural hearing loss. In addition, the gap detection test was also administered to the study participants. Results: A significant better recognition score was obtained in DBM than the unprocessed phrase. The magnitude of improvement from DBM was not the same in all the participants. Thus, the participants were classified into good and poor performers based on their temporal processing ability. The mean unprocessed and DBM phrase recognition scores in each SNR were higher for good performers than the poor performers. The benefit of deep band modulation was evident for the good performers, especially at high SNR, which was moderately correlated with age and temporal processing ability. Conclusion: The benefit from DBM on recognition score for the good performers is predicted from the temporal resolution abilities and age. However, the benefit is minuscule for the poor performers in noise.

Download Full-text

Efficacy and Effectiveness of Advanced Hearing Aid Directional and Noise Reduction Technologies for Older Adults With Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss

Ear and Hearing ◽

10.1097/aud.0000000000000672 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 805-822 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Yu-Hsiang Wu ◽

Elizabeth Stangl ◽

Octav Chipara ◽

Syed Shabih Hasan ◽

Sean DeVries ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Hearing Loss ◽

Noise Reduction ◽

Hearing Aid ◽

Moderate Hearing Loss

Download Full-text

Common Configurations of Real-Ear Aided Response Targets Prescribed by NAL-NL2 for Older Adults With Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss

American Journal of Audiology ◽

10.1044/2020_aja-20-00025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 460-475

Author(s):

Justin Jensen ◽

Dhruv Vyas ◽

Dana Urbanski ◽

Harinath Garudadri ◽

Octav Chipara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Hearing Loss ◽

National Health ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Nutrition Examination Survey ◽

Data Set ◽

Health And Nutrition ◽

Clustering Approach ◽

Db Difference ◽

Moderate Hearing Loss

Purpose This study investigates common real-ear aided response (REAR) configurations prescribed by the NAL-NL2 algorithm for older adults with hearing loss. Method A data set that is representative of the older adult U.S. population with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss was constructed from the audiometric data of 934 adults (aged 55–85 years) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey years 1999–2012. Two clustering approaches were implemented to generate common REAR configurations for eight frequencies (0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz) at three input levels (55, 65, and 75 dB SPL). (a) In the REAR-based clustering approach, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey audiograms were first converted to REAR targets and then clustered to generate common REAR configurations. (b) In the audiogram-based clustering approach, the audiograms were first clustered into common hearing loss profiles and then converted to REAR configurations. The trade-off between the number of available REAR configurations and the percentage of the U.S. population whose hearing loss could be fit by at least one of them (i.e., percent coverage) was evaluated. Hearing loss fit was defined as less than ± 5-dB difference between an individual's REAR targets and those of the clustered REAR configuration. Results Percent coverage increases with the number of available REAR configurations, with four configurations resulting in 75% population coverage. Overall, REAR-based clustering yielded 5 percentage points better coverage on average compared to audiogram-based clustering. Conclusions The common REAR configurations can be used for programming the gain frequency responses in preconfigured over-the-counter hearing aids and provide clinically appropriate amplification settings for older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

Download Full-text

The Impact of Subjective and Objective Hearing Loss on Cognition and Memory in Older Adults

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero20.2.49 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 49-57 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yvonne Rogalski ◽

Amy Rominger

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Hearing Loss ◽

Reading Aloud ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Professional Collaboration ◽

Cognitive Screening ◽

Speech Language Pathologist ◽

Text Passage ◽

The Impact ◽

Audiologic Evaluation

For this exploratory cross-disciplinary study, a speech-language pathologist and an audiologist collaborated to investigate the effects of objective and subjective hearing loss on cognition and memory in 11 older adults without hearing loss (OAs), 6 older adults with unaided hearing loss (HLOAs), and 16 young adults (YAs). All participants received cognitive testing and a complete audiologic evaluation including a subjective questionnaire about perceived hearing difficulty. Memory testing involved listening to or reading aloud a text passage then verbally recalling the information. Key findings revealed that objective hearing loss and subjective hearing loss were correlated and both were associated with a cognitive screening test. Potential clinical implications are discussed and include a need for more cross-professional collaboration in assessing older adults with hearing loss.

Download Full-text