scholarly journals Quality of Life in Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

2019 ◽  
Vol 162 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evette A. Ronner ◽  
Liliya Benchetrit ◽  
Patricia Levesque ◽  
Razan A. Basonbul ◽  
Michael S. Cohen

Objective To assess quality of life (QOL) in pediatric patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) with the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) and the Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life 26 (HEAR-QL-26) and HEAR-QL-28 surveys. Study Design Prospective longitudinal study. Setting Tertiary care center. Subjects and Methods Surveys were administered to patients with SNHL (ages 2-18 years) from July 2016 to December 2018 at a multidisciplinary hearing loss clinic. Patients aged >7 years completed the HEAR-QL-26, HEAR-QL-28, and PedsQL 4.0 self-report tool, while parents completed the PedsQL 4.0 parent proxy report for children aged ≤7 years. Previously published data from children with normal hearing were used for controls. The independent t test was used for analysis. Results In our cohort of 100 patients, the mean age was 7.7 years (SD, 4.5): 62 participants had bilateral SNHL; 63 had mild to moderate SNHL; and 37 had severe to profound SNHL. Sixty-eight patients used a hearing device. Mean (SD) total survey scores for the PedsQL 4.0 (ages 2-7 and 8-18 years), HEAR-QL-26 (ages 7-12 years), and HEAR-QL-28 (ages 13-18 years) were 83.9 (14.0), 79.2 (11.1), 81.2 (9.8), and 77.5 (11.3), respectively. Mean QOL scores for patients with SNHL were significantly lower than those for controls on the basis of previously published normative data ( P < .0001). There was no significant difference in QOL between children with unilateral and bilateral SNHL or between children with SNHL who did and did not require a hearing device. Low statistical power due to small subgroup sizes limited our analysis. Conclusion It is feasible to collect QOL data from children with SNHL in a hearing loss clinic. Children with SNHL had significantly lower scores on validated QOL instruments when compared with peers with normal hearing.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Stefan Herwig Edlinger ◽  
Martin Hasenzagl ◽  
Philipp Schoerg ◽  
Stefanie Muck ◽  
Astrid Magele ◽  
...  

<b><i>Objective:</i></b> The study shows the long-term effectiveness, safety, and quality of life after Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) implantation in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using the short process coupler (SP) or the long process coupler (LP). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This retrospective study evaluated 77 VSB cases. Follow-up (F/U) time-dependent objective measurements (audiological outcomes), subjective data collection (quality-of-life questionnaire), and safety measures are presented. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Sixty-two ears were included in the analysis with up to 116 months of postsurgical F/U data (mean 32.15 ± 37.97 months LP and SP coupler). Fifty-three ears (13 bilateral cases) received the LP coupler and 9 subjects the SP coupler. The post-operative bone conduction thresholds remained stable and, in both groups, &#x3c;10 dB. The benefit in word recognition scores measured at 65 dB SPL and 80 dB SPL showed no significant difference between the couplers (<i>p</i> = 0.559 and <i>p</i> = 0.088, respectively). The functional gain was not significantly different (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05) with a mean of 20.91 ± 9.77 and 17.19 ± 5.75 for LP and SP coupler, respectively. The utility score deciphered from the Assessment of Quality-of-life Questionnaire-8 dimensions revealed a mean score of 0.75 ± 0.16 which is not significantly different to the age- and sex-matched healthy control group with 0.81 ± 0.02 (<i>p</i> = 0.3547). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The Incus Vibroplasty utilizing both couplers is a safe and effective method to treat mild-to-severe SNHL. Both fixation methods of the floating mass transducer exhibit good clinical and audiological outcomes with high patient quality of life. The SP coupling method can be a good alternative when the long process is anatomically inaccessible, or the approach is limited due to anatomical reasons.


2008 ◽  
Vol 139 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. P57-P57
Author(s):  
Drew M Horlbeck ◽  
Herman A Jenkins ◽  
Ben J Balough ◽  
Michael E Hoffer

Objective The efficacy of the Otologics Fully Implantable Hearing Device (MET) was assessed in adult patients with bilateral moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. Methods Surgical insertion of this totally implanted system was identical to the Phase I study. A repeated-measures within-subjects design assessed aided sound field thresholds and speech performances with the subject's own, appropriately fit, walk-in hearing aid(s) and the Otologics Fully Implantable Hearing Device. Results Six- and 12-month Phase II data will be presented. Ten patients were implanted and activated as part Phase II clinical trial. Three patients were lost to long term follow-up due to two coil failures and one ossicular abnormality preventing proper device placement. No significant differences between preoperative (AC = 59 dB, BC = 55 dB) and postoperative (AC = 61 dB, BC = 54 dB) unaided pure tone averages were noted (p < 0.05). Pure tone average implant aided thresholds (41 dB) were equivalent to that of walk-in-aided (37 dB) condition with no significant difference (p < 0.05) between patients’ walk-in-aided individual frequency thresholds and implant-aided thresholds. Word recognition scores and hearing in noise scores were similar between the walk-in-aided and for the implant-aided condition. Patient benefit scales will be presented at all end points. Conclusions Results of the Otologics MET Fully Implantable Hearing Device Phase II trial provide evidence that this fully implantable device is a viable alternative to currently available hearing aids in patients with sensorineural hearing loss.


Revista CEFAC ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 764-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregorina Silva Ribeiro Rocha ◽  
Marlizete Maldonado Vargas ◽  
Margarete Zanardo Gomes

ABSTRACT Purpose: to evaluate the perception of the level of quality of life in subjects with tinnitus, with and without hearing loss. Methods: a cross-sectional quantitative study. A total of 189 subjects (mean age 53.06 years) divided into four groups. Group 1: subjects with normal auditory thresholds without tinnitus complaint; Group 2: subjects with normal auditory thresholds and tinnitus complaint; Group 3: subjects with sensorineural hearing loss without tinnitus complaint; Group 4: subjects with sensorineural hearing loss and with tinnitus complaint. Levels of quality of life were investigated through the World Health Organization Quality Of Life (WHOQOL) website - brief and psycho-emotional and functional aspects of patients with tinnitus through the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). Statistical analyzes, comparisons among groups and descriptive analysis were performed, considering a significance level of 5%. Results: the overall mean scores of quality of life in group 4 (56.07) were smaller than those of group 1 (64.67) (p<0.05). The subjects with tinnitus complaint presented a moderate level of disturbance of the symptom. Conclusion: tinnitus interferes in the quality of life of individuals who had preserved or altered auditory thresholds. Therefore, means to reduce the discomfort caused by tinnitus symptom should be developed, in order to improve patients' quality of life.


1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Jutras ◽  
Jean-Pierre Gagné

The present investigation examined the ability of children with and without a hearing loss to correctly reproduce sequences of acoustic stimuli that varied in number, temporal spacing, and type. Forty-eight children took part in the investigation. They were divided into four groups: two groups of 6- and 7-year-old children, 12 with normal hearing and 12 with a sensorineural hearing loss; and two groups of 9- and 10-year-old children, 12 with normal hearing and 12 with a sensorineural hearing loss. All of the children completed auditory temporal sequencing tasks with verbal (/ba/ and /da/) and nonverbal (a 1-kHz pure tone and a wide band noise) acoustic stimuli. For the 6- and 7-year-old children, the results revealed a significant difference between the children with a hearing loss and their peers with normal hearing for immediate recall of verbal sequences. There were no significant differences in performance between the children with a hearing loss and their peers with normal hearing on the nonverbal sequencing tasks or on the nonverbal and verbal memory span tasks. For the 9- and 10-year-old children, the results did not show any significant differences in performance between the two groups of children for the reproduction of sequences containing more than two verbal or nonverbal elements nor for the auditory memory span task when the sequences consisted of verbal stimuli. For the recall of two verbal stimuli with a variable interstimulus interval (ISI) duration, the results showed that the children with a hearing loss experienced more difficulty than the children with normal hearing. Overall, the results indicated that on the auditory sequential organization tasks, the poorer performance of the children with a hearing loss is likely attributable to auditory perceptual processing deficits rather than to poorer short-term memory capabilities. Also, an analysis of the data revealed that the older children obtained significantly better results than the younger children on auditory sequential organization tasks.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-128
Author(s):  
A. V. Starokha ◽  
A. V. Balakina ◽  
M. M. Litvak ◽  
A. E. Knipenberg ◽  
N. V. Shcherbik ◽  
...  

Current paper describes an experience of cochlear implantation in elderly. Cochlear implantation has become a widely accepted intervention in the treatment of individuals with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. Cochlear implants are now accepted as a standard of care to optimize hearing and subsequent speech development in children and adults with deafness. But cochlear implantation affects not only hearing abilities, speech perception and speech production; it also has an outstanding impact on the social life, activities and self-esteem of each patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cochlear implantation efficacy in elderly with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. There were 5 patients under our observation. Surgery was performed according to traditional posterior tympanotomy and cochleostomy for cochlear implant electrode insertion for all observed patients. The study was conducted in two stages: before speech processor’s activation and 3 months later. Pure tone free field audiometry was performed to each patient to assess the efficiency of cochlear implantation in dynamics. The aim of the study was also to evaluate quality of life in elderly with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss after unilateral cochlear implantation. Each patient underwent questioning with 36 Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). SF-36 is a set of generic, coherent, and easily administered quality-of-life measures. The SF-36 consists of eight scaled scores, which are the weighted sums of the questions in their section. Each scale is directly transformed into a 0-100 scale on the assumption that each question carries equal weight. The eight sections are: physical functioning; physical role functioning; emotional role functioning; vitality; emotional well-being; social role functioning; bodily pain; general health perceptions. Our results demonstrate that cochlear implantation in elderly consistently improved quality of life and enhance the efficiency of audiologic rehabilitation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-105
Author(s):  
N. V Prisyazhnaya ◽  
A. S Zhuravlev ◽  
N. Yu Viatkina

Health is the fundamental value of every individual, and its violations, especially those that are burdened by risk of disability, are the key factor of reducing quality of life of individual. The extent of prevalence of hearing impairment in population, accompanied by multiple problems in organization of social, professional and family life of patients, determines high social importance of the issue. The article presents results of medical and sociological study (focus group) of quality of life of patients with diagnosis "sensorineural hearing loss" (as exemplified by patients of Moscow multi-field hospital). The onset of disease, in addition to problems of physical well-being (pain, dizziness, disorientation, etc.) causes person sensorineural hearing loss reducing quality of life, and, above all, resulting in multiple communication problems at the level of everyday personal and social interaction. Despite the fact that the study participants believe that there is no negative attitude and stigma towards people with hearing loss among Russians, the respondents noted prevalence of general intolerant attitude towards disabled people. The widespread of sensorineural hearing loss among able-bodied population is accompanied with low level of public awareness of principles of prevention of hearing loss, the need for timely corresponding treatment, as well as peculiarities of interaction with people suffering hearing loss. The majority of respondents indicate high ability to work with adequate treatment and selection of hearing device and make adjustments to organization, and the support of family and working community.


2013 ◽  
Vol 139 (3) ◽  
pp. 294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abby Meyer ◽  
Kathleen Sie ◽  
Anne Skalicky ◽  
Todd C. Edwards ◽  
Brenda Schick ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 128 (8) ◽  
pp. 669-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Dallan ◽  
S Fortunato ◽  
A P Casani ◽  
E Bernardini ◽  
S Sellari-Franceschini ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To evaluate the long-term stability of intratympanic steroids and investigate the ‘real’ impact of sudden sensorineural hearing loss on patients.Method:A total of 14 patients treated with intratympanic steroids were evaluated by audiometric and vestibular examinations. The modified Glasgow Benefit Inventory was used to evaluate quality of life changes after intratympanic steroid treatment.Results:There was no significant difference between pure tone average post-intratympanic steroids and at follow up. The general Glasgow Benefit Inventory score was not significantly associated with the presence of tinnitus or dizziness, or with patient age. The change in pure tone average after intratympanic steroid treatment did not correlate with social or physical scores, but correlated strongly with the general Glasgow Benefit Inventory score (p = 0.0023). Intratympanic steroid administration led to a stable improvement in hearing. Quality of life assessment showed that patients can feel satisfaction regardless of the hearing outcome. Patients who regained a social hearing level expressed greater satisfaction than patients without serviceable hearing. Overall, quality of life improvement was not related to hearing improvement.Conclusion:Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is devastating. Considering the audiological effects alone ignores the ‘human’ perspective. Audiological success can correlate with poor quality of life outcome.


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