scholarly journals Self-reported hearing status and audiometric thresholds among college students using headphones

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-68
Author(s):  
Yash Shrimal ◽  
Aparna Nandurkar

Purpose: The study aims to investigate headphone listening habits of college-going students and for those using headphones, correlate self-reported hearing status with average audiometric hearing thresholds. Method: Headphone listening habits and awareness of adverse effects of the same was profiled in college-going students using a questionnaire distributed through online platform. Hearing thresholds were then compared for those with and without self-report of hearing difficulty. 341 responses were obtained from students between 17 and 23 years of age. For the second part of the study, a convenience sample of 30 willing students from among these 341 was selected. Pure tone thresholds were obtained for various frequencies with a high frequency audiometer. PTA (average of 500, 1000, 2000 Hz) and HFPTA (average of 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000 Hz) were calculated for both the ears and compared for those with and without reported hearing difficulty. Results: 78% students reported headphone usage for less than 3 hours per day, while 22% reported usage for more than 3 hours per day. 77% respondents were aware that listening to loud sounds can alter hearing sensitivity, but many (54.83%) did not have awareness about the minimum safe hours of listening. There was a weak positive correlation between self-reported hearing difficulty and poor ear HFPTA (r = 0.2304). Conclusion: Majority of students used insert earphones even after knowing the adverse effect of the same. There was a weak correlation found between the self-reported hearing problems and audiometric hearing thresholds. Implication: More awareness is needed about the ill effects of headphone usage amongst the young teenage population. Proper counseling and management strategies are required for people who report difficulty in hearing.

1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 1003-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Coren ◽  
A. Ralph Hakstian

Hearing sensitivity is most commonly still reported in terms of pure tone thresholds. Unfortunately, simple procedures for predicting Speech Recognition Thresholds from Pure Tone Thresholds are not currently available. To remedy this problem, pure tone thresholds were collected from 802 individuals over the range of 250 to 8000 Hz. Five subsets of pure tone thresholds which are commonly used to report hearing status were then considered. An average correlation of 0.878 was found between the various pure tone indexes and the speech recognition threshold. Using regressions between pure tone and the speech measure, a table was constructed that allows conversion of the various pure tone indexes to a predicted speech recognition threshold and involves only a very simple computation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Zhang ◽  
Himanshu Vashisht ◽  
Alekhya Nethra ◽  
Brian Slattery ◽  
Tomas Ward

BACKGROUND Chronic pain is a significant world-wide health problem. It has been reported that people with chronic pain experience decision-making impairments, but these findings have been based on conventional lab experiments to date. In such experiments researchers have extensive control of conditions and can more precisely eliminate potential confounds. In contrast, there is much less known regarding how chronic pain impacts decision-making captured via lab-in-the-field experiments. Although such settings can introduce more experimental uncertainty, it is believed that collecting data in more ecologically valid contexts can better characterize the real-world impact of chronic pain. OBJECTIVE We aim to quantify decision-making differences between chronic pain individuals and healthy controls in a lab-in-the-field environment through taking advantage of internet technologies and social media. METHODS A cross-sectional design with independent groups was employed. A convenience sample of 45 participants were recruited through social media - 20 participants who self-reported living with chronic pain, and 25 people with no pain or who were living with pain for less than 6 months acting as controls. All participants completed a self-report questionnaire assessing their pain experiences and a neuropsychological task measuring their decision-making, i.e. the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) in their web browser at a time and location of their choice without supervision. RESULTS Standard behavioral analysis revealed no differences in learning strategies between the two groups although qualitative differences could be observed in learning curves. However, computational modelling revealed that individuals with chronic pain were quicker to update their behavior relative to healthy controls, which reflected their increased learning rate (95% HDI from 0.66 to 0.99) when fitted with the VPP model. This result was further validated and extended on the ORL model because higher differences (95% HDI from 0.16 to 0.47) between the reward and punishment learning rates were observed when fitted on this model, indicating that chronic pain individuals were more sensitive to rewards. It was also found that they were less persistent in their choices during the IGT compared to controls, a fact reflected by their decreased outcome perseverance (95% HDI from -4.38 to -0.21) when fitted using the ORL model. Moreover, correlation analysis revealed that the estimated parameters had predictive value for the self-reported pain experiences, suggesting that the altered cognitive parameters could be potential candidates for inclusion in chronic pain assessments. CONCLUSIONS We found that individuals with chronic pain were more driven by rewards and less consistent when making decisions in our lab-in-the-field experiment. In this case study, it was demonstrated that compared to standard statistical summaries of behavioral performance, computational approaches offered superior ability to resolve, understand and explain the differences in decision- making behavior in the context of chronic pain outside the lab.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-122
Author(s):  
Duygu Kes ◽  
Feray Gökdoğan

Adherence to drug treatment is a multidimensional concept. It is affected by many factors, such as physiological, psychological, family, environmental and social conditions. However, relatively little is known about the relationship between adherence to medication and psychosocial adjustment. The aim was to explore the relationship between adherence to antidiabetic drugs and the psychosocial adjustment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was conducted between March and June 2018. A convenience sample of participants was recruited from seven internal disease outpatient clinics at a public tertiary hospital, located in a large city that serves as a gateway to nearby rural and urban areas in the north-west region of Turkey. Data were collected using the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS-7), and the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale–Self Report (PAIS–SR). This study is reported in accordance with STROBE. Pearson’s correlation analysis found a significant weak positive correlation between all domains of the PAIS–SR and the total scores on the ARMS‐7. The participants’ scores on medication refill were found to be significantly and positively correlated with all of the PAIS–SR domain scores except the sexual relationships domain. Psychosocial care could play a crucial role in improving drug regimen adherence among patients with diabetes. Therefore, nurses should integrate psychosocial care into daily practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2199234
Author(s):  
Paul K. J. Han ◽  
Tania D. Strout ◽  
Caitlin Gutheil ◽  
Carl Germann ◽  
Brian King ◽  
...  

Background Medical uncertainty is a pervasive and important problem, but the strategies physicians use to manage it have not been systematically described. Objectives To explore the uncertainty management strategies employed by physicians practicing in acute-care hospital settings and to organize these strategies within a conceptual taxonomy that can guide further efforts to understand and improve physicians’ tolerance of medical uncertainty. Design Qualitative study using individual in-depth interviews. Participants Convenience sample of 22 physicians and trainees (11 attending physicians, 7 residents [postgraduate years 1–3), 4 fourth-year medical students), working within 3 medical specialties (emergency medicine, internal medicine, internal medicine–pediatrics), at a single large US teaching hospital. Measurements Semistructured interviews explored participants’ strategies for managing medical uncertainty and temporal changes in their uncertainty tolerance. Inductive qualitative analysis of audio-recorded interview transcripts was conducted to identify and categorize key themes and to develop a coherent conceptual taxonomy of uncertainty management strategies. Results Participants identified various uncertainty management strategies that differed in their primary focus: 1) ignorance-focused, 2) uncertainty-focused, 3) response-focused, and 4) relationship-focused. Ignorance- and uncertainty-focused strategies were primarily curative (aimed at reducing uncertainty), while response- and relationship-focused strategies were primarily palliative (aimed at ameliorating aversive effects of uncertainty). Several participants described a temporal evolution in their tolerance of uncertainty, which coincided with the development of greater epistemic maturity, humility, flexibility, and openness. Conclusions Physicians and physician-trainees employ a variety of uncertainty management strategies focused on different goals, and their tolerance of uncertainty evolves with the development of several key capacities. More work is needed to understand and improve the management of medical uncertainty by physicians, and a conceptual taxonomy can provide a useful organizing framework for this work.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 587-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Båsjö ◽  
Claes Möller ◽  
Stephen Widén ◽  
Göran Jutengren ◽  
Kim Kähäri

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110428
Author(s):  
Gabriella Bentley ◽  
Osnat Zamir

The transition to motherhood is a significant developmental milestone in many women’s lives. This transitional period may be more stressful for women with a history of childhood maltreatment (CM) than for women without such a history. This study tested whether parental self-efficacy (PSE) accounts for the link between CM and parental stress in mothers transitioning to motherhood. The study used a convenience sample of 1,306 first-time mothers of children aged two years or younger. Mothers filled out online self-report questionnaires assessing history of CM, PSE, and prenatal stress. Consistent with the hypotheses, exposure to CM was directly associated with greater parental stress. Also, PSE partially mediated the associations between CM and parental stress, such that mothers with a history of childhood abuse reported a lower level of PSE, which in turn was associated with greater parental stress. In conclusion, the study highlights the important role of negative cognitions related to parenting for maternal dysfunction following exposure to childhood abuse. These findings suggest a need to incorporate preventive interventions designed to promote PSE for mothers exposed to CM. Such programs may alleviate parental stress and further support the healthy development of the child.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Gailey ◽  
Anat Kristal ◽  
Jennifer Lucarevic ◽  
Shane Harris ◽  
Brooks Applegate ◽  
...  

Background: Prosthetic socket fit is an important element associated with successful ambulation and use of a prosthesis. Prosthetists and rehabilitation clinicians would benefit from an assessment tool that discriminates between and quantifies the multiple determinants that influence the lower limb amputee’s performance and satisfaction of a prosthetic socket. Objectives: To determine the internal consistency of the comprehensive lower limb amputee socket survey, a new self-report measure of prosthetic socket satisfaction that quantifies suspension, stability, comfort, and appearance. Study design: Cross-sectional sample of active amputees. Methods: Interviews were conducted with prosthetists, physical therapists, and lower limb amputees to identify clinical concerns and common activities influencing socket fit. An expert panel of five clinicians reviewed the items and constructed the original version of the comprehensive lower limb amputee socket survey which was then administered to a convenience sample of 47 active lower limb amputees. Item analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were used to determine the final version of the comprehensive lower limb amputee socket survey. Results: Following item raw score-to-total score correlation with Cronbach’s alpha for comprehensive lower limb amputee socket survey determinants, internal consistency improved when nine questions were eliminated. Conclusion: The comprehensive lower limb amputee socket survey is a self-report measure of prosthetic socket satisfaction with very good internal consistency. Clinical relevance When socket problems occur, the ability to determine the specific cause can reduce modification time, enhance socket fit, and promote patient satisfaction. A standardized multi-dimensional assessment measure of socket satisfaction enables prosthetists to quantify the multiple determinants of socket satisfaction, improve patient communication, and demonstrate the value of socket interventions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Baranowska ◽  
Marta Malinowska ◽  
Ewelina Stanaszek ◽  
Dorota Sys ◽  
Grażyna Bączek ◽  
...  

Background: Extended breastfeeding is rare in Poland, and lack of acceptance and understanding is often evident in public opinion. The ability to provide reliable information about breastfeeding beyond infancy depends on health professionals’ levels of knowledge and attitudes. They are considered by most parents in Poland to be authorities in the field of child nutrition. Research aims: To determine (1) the level of knowledge and the attitudes of Polish health professionals towards extended breastfeeding; (2) the relationship between personal breastfeeding experience and attitudes towards extended breastfeeding; and (3) the relationship between knowledge about breastfeeding beyond twelve months and attitudes towards breastfeeding beyond infancy. Methods: A one-group prospective, cross-sectional, self-report style survey was used. The convenience sample ( N = 495) comprised gynaecologists, neonatologists and midwives. Data were collected via an online questionnaire and the results were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics, a chi-square independence test, Fisher’s exact test, post-hoc testing, and two-part tables using SPSS. Results: Most of the respondents (76.7%; n = 384) had a low level of knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding beyond twelve months and even emphasized that this nutritional choice could have negative impacts. There was a positive correlation ( F = 105.847; p = < .01) between levels of knowledge and respondents’ attitudes towards breastfeeding beyond infancy. Attitudes were also influenced by the length of time respondents had breastfed. Conclusion: Healthcare providers have an insufficient level of knowledge about extended breastfeeding and need further education in this area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes C. Ehrenthal ◽  
Johannes Zimmermann ◽  
Katja Brenk-Franz ◽  
Ulrike Dinger ◽  
Henning Schauenburg ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Attachment insecurity is a prominent risk factor for the development and course of psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders. The Experiences in Close Relationships - Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire is a widely used self-report to assess attachment related anxiety and avoidance. However, its length has the potential to restrict its use in large, multi-instrument studies. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a brief version of the ECR-R, and provide norm values for the German population. Methods A screening version of the original ECR-R was developed through principal components analysis of datasets from several previous studies. In a representative sample of 2428 randomly selected individuals from the German population, we compared fit indices of different models by means of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). We investigated the convergent validity of the screening version in an independent convenience sample of 557 participants. Correlations between the short and the full scale were investigated in a re-analysis of the original German ECR-R evaluation sample. Results CFA indicated a satisfactory model fit for an eight-item version (ECR-RD8). The ECR-RD8 demonstrated adequate reliability. The subscales correlated as expected with another self-report measure of attachment in an independent sample. Individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety, but especially higher levels of attachment avoidance were significantly more likely to not be in a relationship, across all age groups. Correlations between the short and the full scale were high. Conclusions The ECR-RD8 appears to be a reliable, valid, and economic questionnaire for assessing attachment insecurity. In addition, the reported population-based norm values will help to contextualize future research findings.


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