Ear and Hearing最新文献

{"title":"Barriers to Meeting National Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Guidelines in a Diverse Patient Cohort.","authors":"Katrin Jaradeh, Elizabeth N Liao, Michael Lindeborg, Dylan K Chan, Jacqueline E Weinstein","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001534","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001534","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To determine our audiology clinics status in meeting the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing recommended 1-3-6 benchmarks for identification and intervention for congenital sensorineural hearing loss and identify those factors contributing to delay in identification and intervention.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This is a retrospective case series. Children with sensorineural hearing loss who underwent auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, hearing aid evaluation, or cochlear implant mapping at our tertiary pediatric medical center between January 2018 and December 2021 were included. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were used to identify social, demographic, and health factors associated with primary outcomes, defined as age at hearing loss identification, age at intervention (here defined as amplification start), and interval between identification and intervention.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 132 patients included, mean age was 2.4 years, 48% were male, and 51% were Hispanic. There was significant association between each Hispanic ethnicity ( p = 0.005, p = 0.04, respectively), insurance type ( p = 0.02, p = 0.001, respectively), and later age at identification and intervention. In multivariable analyses, Hispanic ethnicity was significantly associated with both delays in identification and intervention ( p = 0.03 and p = 0.03, respectively), and public insurance was associated with delays in intervention ( p = 0.01). In addition, the total number of ABRs was significantly associated with both older age of identification and intervention ( p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). Mediator analysis demonstrated that the effect of ethnicity on age at identification is mediated by the total number of ABRs performed.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A significant association between total number of ABRs and age at identification and intervention for children with hearing loss exists. Hispanic ethnicity was associated with delays in meeting milestones, further mediated by the number of ABRs, providing a potential avenue for intervention in addressing this disparity.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141428312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validation of the Chinese Version of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale for Parents and Children.","authors":"Te-Yung Fang, Pei-Hsuan Lin, Yu Ko, Chen-Chi Wu, Han Wang, Wan-Cian Liao, Pa-Chun Wang","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001525","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001525","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To translate and validate the Chinese version of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) for children with hearing impairment (C-SSQ-C) and for their parents (C-SSQ-P).</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We translated the SSQ for children into Chinese and verified its readability and comprehensibility. A total of 105 participants with moderate-to-profound hearing loss (HL) and 54 with normal hearing were enrolled in the validation process. The participants with HL were fitted with bilateral hearing aids, bimodal hearing, or bilateral cochlear implants. The C-SSQ-P was administered to the parents of participants aged 3 to 6.9 years, and the C-SSQ-C was administered to participants aged 7 to 18 years. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity were evaluated for both questionnaires.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both C-SSQ-P and C-SSQ-C demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's α >0.8) and good validity (generalized linear model revealed significant negative relationships between the C-SSQ-P subscales with aided better-hearing threshold [ β = -0.08 to -0.12, p ≤ 0.001] and between the C-SSQ-C subscales with worse-hearing threshold [ β = -0.13 to -0.14, p < 0.001]). Among the children with HL, the participants with bilateral cochlear implants had demonstrated better performance than those with bimodal hearing and bilateral hearing aids, as evidenced by the highest mean scores in three subscales.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Both C-SSQ-P and C-SSQ-C are reliable and valid for assessing HL in children and adolescents. The C-SSQ-P is applicable in evaluating young children aged 3 to 6.9 years after a 7-day observation period, while the C-SSQ-C is appropriate for children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141237061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Listening Effort Measured With Pupillometry in Cochlear Implant Users Depends on Sound Level, But Not on the Signal to Noise Ratio When Using the Matrix Test.","authors":"Hendrik Christiaan Stronks, Annemijn Laura Tops, Kwong Wing Quach, Jeroen Johannes Briaire, Johan Hubertus Maria Frijns","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001529","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001529","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We investigated whether listening effort is dependent on task difficulty for cochlear implant (CI) users when using the Matrix speech-in-noise test. To this end, we measured peak pupil dilation (PPD) at a wide range of signal to noise ratios (SNR) by systematically changing the noise level at a constant speech level, and vice versa.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A group of mostly elderly CI users performed the Dutch/Flemish Matrix test in quiet and in multitalker babble at different SNRs. SNRs were set relative to the speech-recognition threshold (SRT), namely at SRT, and 5 and 10 dB above SRT (0 dB, +5 dB, and +10 dB re SRT). The latter 2 conditions were obtained by either varying speech level (at a fixed noise level of 60 dBA) or by varying noise level (with a fixed speech level). We compared these PPDs with those of a group of typical hearing (TH) listeners. In addition, listening effort was assessed with subjective ratings on a Likert scale.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>PPD for the CI group did not significantly depend on SNR, whereas SNR significantly affected PPDs for TH listeners. Subjective effort ratings depended significantly on SNR for both groups. For CI users, PPDs were significantly larger, and effort was rated higher when speech was varied, and noise was fixed for CI users. By contrast, for TH listeners effort ratings were significantly higher and performance scores lower when noise was varied, and speech was fixed.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The lack of a significant effect of varying SNR on PPD suggests that the Matrix test may not be a feasible speech test for measuring listening effort with pupillometric measures for CI users. A rating test appeared more promising in this population, corroborating earlier reports that subjective measures may reflect different dimensions of listening effort than pupil dilation. Establishing the SNR by varying speech or noise level can have subtle, but significant effects on measures of listening effort, and these effects can differ between TH listeners and CI users.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11486951/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141421940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parent-Reported Ease of Listening in Preschool-Aged Children With Bilateral and Unilateral Hearing Loss.","authors":"Vijayalakshmi Easwar, Sanna Hou, Vicky W Zhang","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001553","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001553","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Evidence from school-aged children suggests that the ease with which children listen varies with the presence of hearing loss and the acoustic environment despite the use of devices like hearing aids. However, little is known about the ease of listening in preschool-aged children with hearing loss-an age at which rapid learning occurs and increased listening difficulty or effort may diminish the required capacity to learn new skills. To this end, the objectives of the present study were to (i) assess parent-reported aided ease of listening as a function of hearing loss configuration (hearing loss in one versus both ears) and device configuration among children with hearing loss in one ear (unilateral hearing loss), and (ii) investigate factors that influence children's ease of listening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Parents of 83 children with normal hearing, 54 aided children with bilateral hearing loss (hearing loss in both ears), and 139 children with unilateral hearing loss participated in the study. Of the 139 children with unilateral loss, 72 were unaided, 54 were aided with a device on the ear with hearing loss (direct aiding) and 13 were aided with a device that routed signals to the contralateral normal hearing ear (indirect aiding). Mean age of children was 40.2 months (1 SD = 2.5; range: 36 to 51). Parents completed the two subscales of the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children+ (PEACH+) questionnaire, namely functional listening and ease of listening. Individual percent scores were computed for quiet and noisy situations. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess the effect of hearing loss configuration and device configuration in children with unilateral hearing loss. Multiple regression was used to assess factors that influenced ease of listening. Factors included hearing thresholds, age at first device fit, consistency in device use, condition (quiet/noise), presence of developmental disabilities, and functional listening abilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Children with direct aiding for their hearing loss, either unilateral or bilateral, had similarly lower functional listening skills and ease of listening than their normal hearing peers. Unaided children with unilateral hearing loss had lower functional listening skills and ease of listening than their normal hearing peers in noise but not in quiet. All aided children with unilateral hearing loss, irrespective of direct or indirect aiding had lower functional listening skills and ease of listening relative to normal hearing children in both quiet and noise. Furthermore, relative to unaided children with unilateral hearing loss, those with indirect aiding had lower functional listening and ease of listening. Regression analyses revealed functional listening as a significant predictor of ease of listening in all children with hearing loss. In addition, worse degrees of hearing loss and presence of noise reduced eas","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141908350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extended High-Frequency Thresholds: Associations With Demographic and Risk Factors, Cognitive Ability, and Hearing Outcomes in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.","authors":"Karen S Helfer, Lizmarie Maldonado, Lois J Matthews, Annie N Simpson, Judy R Dubno","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001531","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001531","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;This study had two objectives: to examine associations between extended high-frequency (EHF) thresholds, demographic factors (age, sex, race/ethnicity), risk factors (cardiovascular, smoking, noise exposure, occupation), and cognitive abilities; and to determine variance explained by EHF thresholds for speech perception in noise, self-rated workload/effort, and self-reported hearing difficulties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;This study was a retrospective analysis of a data set from the MUSC Longitudinal Cohort Study of Age-related Hearing Loss. Data from 347 middle-aged adults (45 to 64 years) and 694 older adults (≥ 65 years) were analyzed for this study. Speech perception was quantified using low-context Speech Perception In Noise (SPIN) sentences. Self-rated workload/effort was measured using the effort prompt from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index. Self-reported hearing difficulty was assessed using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly/Adults. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Task and the Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test were used to assess selected cognitive abilities. Pure-tone averages representing conventional and EHF thresholds between 9 and 12 kHz (PTA (9 - 12 kHz) ) were utilized in simple linear regression analyses to examine relationships between thresholds and demographic and risk factors or in linear regression models to assess the contributions of PTA (9 - 12 kHz) to the variance among the three outcomes of interest. Further analyses were performed on a subset of individuals with thresholds ≤ 25 dB HL at all conventional frequencies to control for the influence of hearing loss on the association between PTA (9 - 12 kHz) and outcome measures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;PTA (9 - 12 kHz) was higher in males than females, and was higher in White participants than in racial Minority participants. Linear regression models showed the associations between cardiovascular risk factors and PTA (9 - 12 kHz) were not statistically significant. Older adults who reported a history of noise exposure had higher PTA (9 - 12 kHz) than those without a history, while associations between noise history and PTA (9 - 12 kHz) did not reach statistical significance for middle-aged participants. Linear models adjusting for age, sex, race and noise history showed that higher PTA (9 - 12 kHz) was associated with greater self-perceived hearing difficulty and poorer speech recognition scores in noise for both middle-aged and older participants. Workload/effort was significantly related to PTA (9 - 12 kHz) for middle-aged, but not older, participants, while cognitive task performance was correlated with PTA (9 - 12 kHz) only for older participants. In general, PTA (9 - 12 kHz) did not account for additional variance in outcome measures as compared to conventional pure-tone thresholds, with the exception of self-reported hearing difficulties in older participants. Linear models ad","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11493509/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141581570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hearing Screening in Older Adults in Primary Care Clinics: How the Effects of Setting and Provider Encouragement Differ by Patient Sex and Race.","authors":"Jessica S West, Judy R Dubno, Howard W Francis, Sherri L Smith","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001604","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Few studies have examined how patient sex or race influence hearing healthcare, which was our study purpose.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We performed a secondary analysis using data from a pragmatic clinical trial that examined the effect of provider encouragement (yes/no) or setting (at-home/clinic) for older adults to follow through with routine hearing screening in primary care and the hearing healthcare pathway. Three protocols were compared: at-home screening without provider encouragement, at-home screening with provider encouragement, and in-clinic screening with provider encouragement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Poisson regression (n = 627) showed few differences by patient sex but showed that Black patients in the at-home protocols were less likely to schedule or complete a formal diagnostic evaluation after a failed screening compared with Black patients in the clinic setting and White patients in all groups. Black patients, regardless of provider encouragement, were less likely to schedule or complete a diagnostic evaluation compared with White patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Results suggest that in-clinic screenings may increase the use of hearing healthcare for Black patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142549037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in Auditory Performance Following a Virtual Reality Music Concert.","authors":"Sarah K Grinn, Dana E Notaro, Jatinder K Shokar, Chin-I Cheng","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001587","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001587","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The purpose of this study was to evaluate threshold and suprathreshold auditory risk from a newly popular platform of music concert entertainment; virtual reality (VR) headsets. Recreational noise exposure to music is the primary source of hearing hazard in young-adults, with noise doses of in-person concert venues and music festivals well in excess of the recommended daily exposure recommendation from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. While research on the relationship between personal music players and noise-induced hearing loss risk is abundant, no study has yet evaluated noise-induced hearing loss risk from VR headsets, which are newest to the commercial market at this time.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Thirty-one young-adult participants (18 to 25 years) with normal-hearing sensitivity (0 to 16 dB HL) experienced a VR music concert and participated in three data collection timepoints: Session A preexposure, Session A post-exposure, and Session B post-exposure. Participants underwent baseline testing for audiometry (0.25 to 20 kHz), distortion product otoacoustic emission testing (1 to 10 kHz), and Words-in-Noise testing. Participants then wore a commercially available VR headset (Meta Quest 2) and experienced a freely available online VR music concert (via the video-sharing website \"YouTube\"). The VR music concert duration was 90 min set to maximum volume, which yielded an average sound level equivalent of 78.7 dBA, max sound level of 88.2 dBA, and LC peak sound level of 98.6 dBA. Post-exposure testing was conducted immediately at the conclusion of the VR concert, and again within 24 hr to 1 week after the exposure. Participants also answered a questionnaire that estimated noise exposure history (National Acoustics Laboratory \"Noise Calculator\").</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Post-exposure deficit was not observed in DPOAEs or Words-in-Noise score (p's > 0.05). However, statistically significant temporary post-exposure deficit was observed in audiometry at 4, 8, and 12.5 kHz (p's < 0.05) (mean differences: 2 to 3 dB HL). Twenty-four hours and 1-week post-exposure measurements revealed no permanent changes from baseline measurements (p's > 0.05) aside from one spurious difference at 12.5 kHz. Males tended to exhibit a significantly higher noise history score on average than females. The primary, secondary, and tertiary sources of noise hazard history in this young-adult cohort included amplified music.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These preliminary data suggest that VR music concerts-which are likely to produce a substantially lower noise dose than in-person music concerts-may still be capable of producing at least slight, temporary threshold shifts on the order of 2 to 3 dB HL. Future research should include VR headsets in personal music player risk assessment, as the VR music concert platform is increasing rapidly in popularity among young-adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142481384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Variable-Stimulus Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission Screening Method to Match Cochlear Place-Specific Properties.","authors":"Samantha Stiepan, Sumitrajit Dhar","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001594","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001594","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are a popular screening tool for hearing loss in specific populations (e.g., newborns). Current screening protocols use stimulus conditions that are agnostic to local mechanical properties of the cochlea and are also limited to a narrow frequency range. We have recently reported locally optimized stimulus frequency ratio and level combinations for recording DPOAEs up to stimulus frequencies of 19 kHz. In normally functioning cochlea, optimized stimuli improved the signal to noise ratios and allowed the registration of higher DPOAE levels, especially at higher frequencies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical performance of these physiologically motivated, locally appropriate, stimulus parameters for a screening application to identify the presence of hearing loss.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Subjects were 24 adults with sensorineural hearing loss and 31 adults with normal hearing. The cubic DPOAE was measured and analyzed up to frequencies of 16 kHz using a range of stimulus conditions. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to identify stimulus combinations most sensitive to screening for hearing loss.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated improved test efficacy for hearing loss detection when using stimulus frequency ratios and levels that are frequency-dependent and consistent with known mechanical properties of the cochlea.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We propose a new DPOAE recording paradigm (variable-stimuli DP) using stimuli aligned to local cochlear properties which may improve early and accurate detection of decline in cochlear function.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142481382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations Between Noise Exposure Level, Noise Kurtosis, and Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions in Young Workers With Normal Hearing.","authors":"Fang Wei, Wulan Zhao, Xiangjing Gao, Panqi Xue, Fei Xu, Hongwei Xie, Ning Yang, Hua Zou, Wei Qiu","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001600","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Growing evidence has suggested that, in addition to noise exposure level, noise temporal structure (i.e., kurtosis) plays an important role in the development of noise-induced hearing loss, while most of the relevant research has been on the results of pure-tone audiometry. This study focuses on the combined effect of noise exposure level and noise kurtosis on distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) in young workers with normal hearing.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A cross-sectional study among young workers in manufacturing industries was conducted in Zhejiang Province, China. Individual noise exposure measurements were performed on participants to obtain an A-weighted noise exposure level normalized to 8 hr (LAeq, 8hr), cumulative noise exposure (CNE), kurtosis, and kurtosis-adjusted CNE (CNE-K). The DPOAE test was performed on the participants and DPOAE levels were obtained. The relationships between noise exposure level, kurtosis, and DPOAE levels were explored by univariate analyses. Furthermore, multivariate regression models were conducted to estimate the combined effects of exposure level and kurtosis after adjusting for age, gender, and use of hearing protection devices.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The overall DPOAE curves across frequency bands presented a fluctuating downward trend with increasing frequency. Both exposure level and kurtosis were found to be associated with decreases in DPOAE levels. The multivariate regression model including CNE-K as a joint indicator of complex noise showed an increased R2 compared with the model including CNE. After adjustment for age, gender, and the use of hearing protection devices, significant effects of CNE-K on DPOAE levels were observed at 3, 4, and 5 kHz frequencies, with maximum effect presented at 4 kHz.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>DPOAE is a sensitive test that can detect cochlear damage in limited areas that cannot be detected by conventional audiometry. The present study provided a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of complex noise on the DPOAE levels. It also suggested that CNE-K was an effective metric in assessing DPOAE levels associated with complex noise.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142481383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-Related Listening Performance Changes Across Adulthood.","authors":"Pamela P Lunardelo, Marisa T H Fukuda, Sthella Zanchetta","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001595","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001595","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study compares auditory processing performance across different decades of adulthood, including young adults and middle-aged individuals with normal hearing and no spontaneous auditory complaints.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We assessed 80 participants with normal hearing, at least 10 years of education, and normal global cognition. The participants completed various auditory tests, including speech-in-noise, dichotic digits, duration, pitch pattern sequence, gap in noise, and masking level difference. In addition, we conducted working memory assessments and administered a questionnaire on self-perceived hearing difficulties.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our findings revealed significant differences in auditory test performance across different age groups, except for the masking level difference. The youngest group outperformed all other age groups in the speech-in-noise test, while differences in dichotic listening and temporal resolution emerged from the age of 40 and in temporal ordering from the age of 50. Moreover, higher education levels and better working memory test scores were associated with better auditory performance as individuals aged. However, the influence of these factors varied across different auditory tests. It is interesting that we observed increased self-reported hearing difficulties with age, even in participants without spontaneous auditory complaints.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study highlights significant variations in auditory test performance, with noticeable changes occurring from age 30 and becoming more pronounced from age 40 onward. As individuals grow older, they tend to perceive more hearing difficulties. Furthermore, the impact of age on auditory processing performance is influenced by factors such as education and working memory.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142382531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}