Audiologist

ABSTRACTImportanceHearing loss is a highly prevalent condition, with numerous debilitating consequences when left untreated. However, less than 20% of adults with hearing loss in the United States use hearing aids. Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids became available in October 2022 to improve access and affordability. However, clinical effectiveness studies of available OTC hearing aids using the existing devices in the market are limited.ObjectiveTo compare the clinical effectiveness of a self-fitting OTC hearing aid with remote support to a hearing aid fitted using audiologist best practices.Design, setting, and participantsA randomized parallel-assigned clinical effectiveness trial was conducted between April to August 2022. Sixty-eight adults with self-perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss were recruited and randomly assigned to either the self-fitting (SF) group or an audiologist-fitted (AF) group. Following hearing aid fitting, participants first completed a two-week, take-...

TEMA: os inquéritos de saúde constituem uma abordagem eficiente para estudos populacionais, sendo tal metodologia ainda pouco difundida entre os fonoaudiólogos brasileiros. Para a realização e análise de um estudo com base em inquéritos de saúde, o profissional deve transcender a visão clínica fonoaudiológica, partindo para uma abordagem social, demográfica, econômica e de saúde geral. OBJETIVO: realizar abordagem teórica acerca dos inquéritos de saúde, seus conceitos, histórico e resultados publicados no campo fonoaudiológico, com enfoque em saúde auditiva. CONCLUSÃO: os inquéritos de saúde constituem-se num método de investigação importante a ser explorado pelos fonoaudiólogos para que passem a recomendar ações relacionadas à saúde auditiva em sintonia com necessidades da população embasadas em dados epidemiológicos fidedignos.

Background: Screening of hearing impairment in children facilitates earlier identification, management and prevention of disability. The objective of this study was to perform a screening of hearing in infants at risk in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among 228 infants who were at risk of hearing loss. All ‘at risk’ infants born to mothers in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and ‘at risk’ children below one year of age admitted in the pediatric ward and intensive care unit were screened for hearing loss by automated otoacoustic emission (OAE) and automated auditory brainstem reflex (ABR). The results were categorized as pass or refer (fail). The association between hearing loss and the potential risk factors was analyzed. Results: Out of 228 infants screened, 117 (51%) were male and 111 (49%) were female. Seventy (30.7%) failed OAE and 44 (19.3%) failed ABR. Univariate analysis (Pearson Chi-square test) showed that...

Hearing impairment is a growing problem for our ageing communication society. Although many elderly people take notice of their hearing deficiencies in daily communication, only few of them are supplied with hearing aids. This maybe a cause of several psycho-social factors (e.g. stigmatization, comfort, cost and effort) associated with hearing loss . The Hearing at Home (HaH) project [1] tries to tackle this general acceptance problem by applying supportive hearing technology into (highly accepted) home-entertainment devices, allowing the elderly people to participate in communica-tion without using hearing aids. It is anticipated that formerly separated devices like TV, telephone, fax, intercom, per-sonal computer, HIFI systems as well as services like VoIP and home automation grow together and can be integrated into a single Home Information and Communication (HIC) platform accessible and controlled through a TV set. The HIC platform that is researched and developed in HaH will su...

Introduction: Hearing impairment has a devastating, detrimental and an invariably adverse impact on the development of new-borns and the psychological well-being of their families. Objective: To study the incidence and prevalence of hearing impairment and its correlates in the high risk neonates in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at NICU of Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER) between 1st August 2012 to 30th October 2013 after taking written consent of parents and approval of institutional ethical committee.

Results: Among high risk new born 36 (27.6%) new born had hearing impairment. Multiple risk factor increases the risk for hearing im- pairment in newborns as compared to single risk factor. Newborns with birth weight ≤ 1.5 kg were 2.341 times (CI: 1.15- 4.763) more prone to develop hearing impairment.

Conclusion: The incidence of hearing impairment was 13% in newborns admitted in NICU in our hospital. Factors like early gestational age, low birth weight, birth asphyxia, hyperbillirubinemia, ventilator support and TORCH infection were significantly found to be associated with hearing impairment.

Benefits of high-frequency audiometry in monitoring hearing sensitivity of patients administered ototoxic medications are well established. Thresholds obtained within a sound suite have been proven reliable. It may, however, often be necessary for the audiologist to evaluate the patient at bedside. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences are present between high-frequency thresholds measured in a sound suite versus thresholds measured in a hospital room. In addition, the test-retest reliability of high-frequency thresholds was determined when measured in a hospital room. For 25 normal hearing subjects, results revealed that significant differences were not observed between thresholds measured in a sound suite versus those measured in a typical hospital room. In addition, differences between the initial and repeated thresholds obtained in the hospital room were not significant, and the differences were, for the most part, within +/- 10 dB at all ...

This study investigated the consistency in Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) waveform evaluations between two audiologists (inter-audiologist agreement) and within each of the audiologist (intra-audiologist agreement). Two audiologists from one of the audiology clinics in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia were involved in this study. Both audiologists were required to identify and mark the presence of Waves I, III and V in 66 ABR waveforms. Over a one-month interval, each audiologist was required to carry out the same procedure on the same ABR waveforms. This process was continued until we had three separate reviews from each audiologist. There was a high inter-audiologist ABR waveform identification agreement (over the range 81.71-89.77%), but a lower intra-audiologist ABR waveform identification agreement (over the range 50%-78%) for both audiologists. Our results also showed a high intra-audiologist ABR latency agreement within 0.2 ms (>90%), but a slightly lower inter-audiologist lat...

RESUMO A síndrome de Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (SVKH) é rara, multissistêmica e autoimune. Atinge principalmente os olhos, provocando uma panuveíte crônica bilateral, porém traz afecções em outras áreas e tecidos que são ricos em melanócitos, como olhos, orelha interna, meninges e a pele. Sua origem ainda não é totalmente conhecida. Geralmente, a SVKH atinge indivíduos de origem hispânica, do Oriente Médio, indianos, nativos americanos e asiáticos. Descrição dos aspectos audiológicos acometidos pela síndrome e as possíveis intervenções fonoaudiológicas para um caso específico. Paciente de 53 anos, sexo feminino, compareceu à Clínica de Fonoaudiologia, Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB) com queixas audiológicas e diagnóstico médico da SVKH. A paciente apresentou perda auditiva sensório-neural bilateralmente, emissões otoacústicas evocadas ausentes e queixas vestibulares de vertigem postural e desequilíbrio ao andar, bem como queixa de zumbido agudo contínuo. O caso apresentado mostro...

ImportanceHearing loss is a highly prevalent condition, with numerous debilitating consequences when left untreated. However, less than 20% of US adults with hearing loss use hearing aids. Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids became available in October 2022 to improve access and affordability. However, clinical effectiveness studies of available OTC hearing aids using the existing devices in the market are limited.ObjectiveTo compare the clinical effectiveness of a self-fitting OTC hearing aid with remote support and a hearing aid fitted using audiologist-fitted best practices.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis randomized clinical effectiveness trial was conducted between April 14 and August 29, 2022. Sixty-eight adults with self-perceived mild to moderate hearing loss were recruited and randomly assigned to either the self-fitting or the audiologist-fitted group. Following bilateral hearing aid fitting, participants first completed a 2-week, take-home field trial without any sup...

Introduction: Prevalence of disabling hearing loss among Malaysians is 5%, according to Malaysia’s Health Survey. The need for audiological service is clear. Despite the urgencies in hearing-related health issues, there is not much known about public awareness of the audiologist’s role and services especially in Kuantan. This current study aims to explore this matter. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires consisting 2 sections were distributed randomly in public in Kuantan. Section A comprises of participants’ sociodemographic information (i.e. gender, race, age, occupation, and level of education). Section B consists of Part a: Familiarity with Audiological Services, Part b: Knowledge on Role and Services of Audiologists, and Part c: Source of Information. 56 respondents were involved. Results: 66.07% of subjects (n=37) claimed they knew about the audiologist existence in Malaysia and 33.93% (n=19) claimed otherwise. There is no significant association between sociodemographic ...

Aim: To find out the frequency of sensorineural hearing loss among children with pyogenic meningitis. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted at Ziauddin university hospital during the period of July 2019 to February 2020. Methodology: About 96 participants were enrolled in the study between the age group of one month up to 12 years. Patients were included on the basis of clinical presentation and laboratory findings of pyogenic meningitis. An expert audiologist performed the brainstem evoked response audiometry test before discharging the patient from the hospital. For data analysis SPSS version-20 was used. All the quantitative variables were calculated as mean with standard deviation while qualitative data were presented as frequency and percentages. To find out association between variables, the Mann Whitney U-test and chi-square test was applied while P-value ≤0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Mean age with standard deviation w...

The aims of this study were to investigate the potential unmet need for hearing services among older people attending low-vision rehabilitation, and pilot a "Hearing Screening and Education Model" (HSEM) of intervention to promote use of hearing services and aids among these individuals. In the Vision-Hearing project, 300 clients attending low-vision clinics in Sydney, Australia, participated in baseline interviews and the HSEM (2010-2011). The HSEM consisted of: (1) standard pure-tone audiometry; (2) discussion of hearing loss and implications of dual sensory impairment; and (3) provision of information on hearing services and facilitated referral. Those with hearing loss who did not own hearing aids, reported low use…

The need to optimize the use of all the information that modern technological tools have made available to the physician ENT/audiologist has increasingly emerged within the Italian scientific community. Towards this purpose, it is necessary to create a registry of the patients using cochlear implants (CIs). This registry will include a homogeneous summary of the information deriving from multiple sources related to daily clinical practice, in order to assess auditory benefits, safety and reliability in patients with cochlear implants, and organization over the national territory. The primary objectives relative to the above-mentioned analysis are to assess the impact of the use of cochlear implants on patient health, to ensure traceability of the devices currently used, monitoring their safety and reliability over time, to guarantee access of the technique in clinical and organizational conditions that can allow the best possible benefits. The aspects concerning implementation of th...

The need to optimize the use of all the information that modern technological tools have made available to the physician ENT/audiologist has increasingly emerged within the Italian scientific community. Towards this purpose, it is necessary to create a registry of the patients using cochlear implants (CIs). This registry will include a homogeneous summary of the information deriving from multiple sources related to daily clinical practice, in order to assess auditory benefits, safety and reliability in patients with cochlear implants, and organization over the national territory. The primary objectives relative to the above-mentioned analysis are to assess the impact of the use of cochlear implants on patient health, to ensure traceability of the devices currently used, monitoring their safety and reliability over time, to guarantee access of the technique in clinical and organizational conditions that can allow the best possible benefits. The aspects concerning implementation of th...

Background: Audiologist and Speech language pathologist (ASLPs) are a group of professionals specialized in communication disorders. Their work responsibilities require them to be interacting with people with different backgrounds, education and ages who seek assistance from these young professionals. It is important to know whether the professionals who are meant to deal with individuals with communication disorders are themselves going through social anxiety or not. Methods: A questionnaire was prepared and was used for assessing social anxiety among trainee undergraduate and postgraduate ASLP’s. Data was collected via Google form further was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Total 124 students participated in the study (20 males and 104 females). Cronbach’s test was administered to check the internal consistency of questionnaire. The overall questionnaire had a global alpha of 0.926 and global alphas for different scenarios of the questionnaire were 0.865 and 0.894 respe...