Ear and Hearing最新文献

{"title":"Visual Analog of Temporal Envelope Benefits Speech Processing in Cochlear Implant Users: A Pilot Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study on the Associations Between Audiovisual Benefit, Listening Environment, and Peripheral Neural Health.","authors":"Zi Gao, Yi Yuan, Christopher R Mueller, Ross A Aiello, Yingying Wang, Shuman He","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001709","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study compared the benefit of visual analog of temporal envelope for speech processing across listening environments in postlingually deafened adult cochlear implant users. Associations between cortical activities and peripheral neural health were explored.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Speech perception was measured using Harvard/IEEE sentences in quiet and noise with a visually presented sphere whose size was synchronized with the temporal envelope of the sentences. Cortical activities were recorded concurrently using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Audiovisual benefit was evaluated using sentence scores, activation additivity, and functional connectivity. Peripheral neural health was measured using electrically evoked compound action potentials.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Behavioral results showed the largest audiovisual benefit at a signal-to-noise ratio of +10 dB. The nonsignificant trends of activation additivity agreed with the behavioral results. Correlations between functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electrically evoked compound action potential results are inconclusive and warrant further research.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Visual temporal envelope benefits speech perception in moderately noisy environment in cochlear implant users.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144762406","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":"Exploratory Analysis of Cortical-Vestibular Interaction: The Relation Between Caloric-Induced Changes in Electroencephalography Frequency Bands, the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex, and Perception.","authors":"Daniel J Romero, Catie Chang, Danielle Clay, Richard A Roberts, Jim Bodfish, Gary P Jacobson","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001710","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001710","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Standardized assessments of vestibular function primarily focus on the structural integrity of brainstem reflexes. However, patients may report symptoms linked to disruptions in central vestibular processing and integration, mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that electroencephalography (EEG) can characterize the neural dynamics of central vestibular processing. This exploratory study examines the effects of caloric-induced vestibular stimulation on EEG rhythms to further elucidate neural dynamics and their relationship with lower-order (brainstem reflexes) and higher-order (perception) vestibular processes.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Ten healthy, right-handed participants underwent EEG recording during resting and caloric vestibular stimulation periods. Changes in spectral power were quantified using a measure that captured both desynchronization (suppression) and synchronization (enhancement) across frequency bands.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results revealed a significant and widely distributed suppression of the alpha band. The individual changes in EEG frequency bands were not correlated with the degree of brainstem caloric responsiveness (peak slow phase velocity), while the changes in beta were significantly related to a measure of caloric-induced perception.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although future studies should focus on the reproducibility and validity of vestibular-induced EEG responses, these findings support measurable cortical-vestibular interactions using EEG and highlight its potential to bridge gaps in knowledge between traditional assessment and cortical contributions to dizziness and imbalance.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144762405","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":"Health-Related Quality of Life Among People With Bilateral Vestibulopathy With and Without Hearing Loss: A Prospective Study Using Generic and Disease-Specific Instruments.","authors":"Cathérine Jorissen, Julie Moyaert, Bieke Dobbels, Paul Van de Heyning, Annick Gilles, Olivier Vanderveken, Griet Mertens, Angelica Pérez-Fornos, Nils Guinand, Raymond van de Berg, Marc J W Lammers, Vincent Van Rompaey","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001681","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) is a chronic vestibular disorder which leads to postural imbalance, gait unsteadiness, and movement-induced oscillopsia. Limited data are available on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with BVP and whether the association with sensorineural hearing loss would further impact these results. The aim of this study was to study HRQoL among patients with BVP using generic and disease-specific instruments in patients with and without concomitant sensorineural hearing loss.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A prospective study was performed at the Antwerp University Hospital on patients diagnosed with BVP according to the 2017 Bárány Society criteria. The EuroQol-5D-5L (EQ-5D-5L) and Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI-3) were used to assess generic HRQoL. The Dizziness Handicap Index (DHI) and Oscillopsia Severity Questionnaire (OSQ) were used to assess disease-specific HRQoL. To determine the influence of concomitant hearing impairment on HRQoL, the hearing status was tested using the unaided pure-tone averages dB HL (PTA 1, 2, and 4 kHz) and speech perception in noise (SPIN) in the best-aided condition.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>One hundred and one patients (53 male, 48 female; mean age 60.4 years, range: 18 to 88 years) were included, of which 72 completed all questionnaires. The mean HUI-3 score (0.50; SD ±0.31) indicated severe disability. The mean utility scores for the Dutch EQ-5D-5L (mean 0.73; SD ±0.25) were lower than the mean reference values. The mean DHI score of 37.86 (SD ±25.72) indicated a moderate self-perceived handicap. The mean OSQ score (2.63; SD ±0.91) was lower compared with previous studies, indicating lower symptom severity. Regarding the correlation between hearing impairment and HRQoL, higher SPIN scores were associated with a decrease in HRQoL (p < 0.05) using the HUI-3 and the EQ-5D-5L. However, for the DHI and OSQ, no significant difference was detected for either the unaided pure-tone average (p > 0.05) or the best-aided SPIN (p > 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>HRQoL is significantly reduced in patients with BVP, as evidenced by both generic and disease-specific instruments, with these patients experiencing a range of disability from moderate to severe. Furthermore, difficulties in understanding speech in noise impose an additional burden on HRQoL, a factor that can be identified through the HUI-3 and EQ-5D assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144746010","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":"Daily-Life Fatigue Among Adolescents Who Are Hard of Hearing: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.","authors":"Erik J Jorgensen, Megan Fear, Connor Kaminski, Ryan W McCreery, Allison Ocel, Elizabeth A Walker","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001705","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001705","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Studies using retrospective questionnaires have suggested that children, adolescents, and adults who are hard of hearing may be more fatigued than their peers with typical hearing, though the effects of hearing loss severity and hearing loss interventions on fatigue are unclear. The purpose of this preliminary study was to closely examine the relationship among hearing loss, hearing aid use, and fatigue in a small sample of adolescents using ecological momentary assessment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Ten adolescents with typical hearing and 10 adolescents who are hard of hearing completed ecological momentary assessments on a smartphone across a 1-week sampling period. Most participants completed two sessions, one in the summer and one in the school year. Participants were asked to take eight assessments a day, 2 hours apart. The assessments asked participants to report on their momentary fatigue as well as their hearing aid use, listening environment, and listening activity. Last, hearing loss severity among participants who are hard of hearing was quantified using unaided Speech Intelligibility Indices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Compliance on the ecological momentary assessments was high. Participants completed, on average, 47 and 54 of the requested 56 ecological momentary assessments in the summer and school year, respectively. Overall, there were no differences in fatigue between our samples of adolescents with typical hearing and adolescents who are hard of hearing. Adolescents with typical hearing reported greater fatigue in the school year than they did in the summer, while adolescents who are hard of hearing reported greater fatigue in the summer than in the school year. However, among adolescents who are hard of hearing, session, hearing loss severity, and hearing aid use moderated fatigue, with a complex relationship observed between hearing aid use, unaided Speech Intelligibility Index, and session. Hearing aid use results in lower ratings of fatigue for adolescents with less hearing loss, with larger effects in the summer. All adolescents showed increasing but nonlinear trajectories of fatigue across the day, with lowest fatigue in the middle of the day. The increase in fatigue across the day was less steep in the summer and for adolescents who are hard of hearing. All adolescents reported greater fatigue when listening in background noise, but the size of this effect did not differ between groups. Fatigue did not differ depending on listening activity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;In contrast to expectations, mean fatigue in our sample of adolescents who are hard of hearing was not greater than that reported by our sample of adolescents with typical hearing. This may simply reflect our limited sample size and the wide variability of fatigue in those with hearing loss. In addition, within our sample, fatigue effects may have been moderated by hearing aid use, particularly for those ado","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12313263/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144746009","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":"Listening Effort and Memory Effort in Cochlear Implant Users: A Pupillometry Study.","authors":"Hanna Bönitz, Lorenz Fiedler, Mareike Finke, Björn Lyxell, Thomas Lunner, Alejandro Lopez Valdes, Andreas Büchner, Dorothea Wendt","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001698","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001698","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Following a conversation involves numerous cognitive processes. Speech needs to be processed, retained, encoded and an answer needs to be prepared. Hearing impairment leads to degraded speech signal, which results in the need for additional cognitive resources to processing and encoding. This is particularly true for cochlear implant (CI) users, where the auditory nerve is stimulated electrically. The present study examined the cognitive effort required for listening (listening effort) and retaining sentences in memory (memory effort) among CI users by means of pupil dilation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how CI users allocate their cognitive resources in an auditory dual task and whether changes in pupil size can be indicative of this allocation. Understanding how cognitive effort is allocated during speech comprehension might be helpful in rehabilitation following a CI implantation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Nineteen German-speaking CI users performed a sentence final word identification and recall test while their pupil dilation was recorded. Participants listened to a sentence in four-talker babble background noise and repeated the final word of each sentence. Sentences were presented in lists of either three or six sentences, and at the end of each list, participants were asked to repeat back as many final words as possible and were evaluated in four conditions with varying list length (three versus six sentences) and the necessity of a recall (recall versus no recall). The pupil size was analyzed before each sentence (sentence baseline) and in terms of the mean pupil dilation relative to the sentence baseline (sentence dilation). The conditions were statistically compared by fitting a line to the pupil measures across groups of three sentences and contrasting the intercepts and slopes, respectively: First, the three sentence conditions were compared with the first three sentences (#1 to 3) of the six-sentence conditions with the factors recall and list length. Second, within the six-sentence conditions, the first half (sentences #1 to 3) was compared with the second half (sentences #4 to 6) with the factors recall and halves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Over the course of the lists, sentence baseline diverged between three and six sentences, which manifested in the slope of sentence baseline being significantly higher in three than six sentences. The slope of sentence baseline also differed significantly between the first compared with second halve. The slope within the second halve is more positive compared with the first halve. The recall-related divergence was most prominent in the second half of the six-sentence lists, which manifested in a significant interaction between recall and halves in the intercept of the sentence baseline. Sentence dilation did not significantly change across the list presentation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;CI users appeared to allocate their me","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144746011","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":"The WHAM Study: Socio-Emotional Well-being Effects of Hearing Aid Use and Mediation Through Improved Hearing Ability.","authors":"Lotte A Jansen, Marieke F van Wier, Birgit I Lissenberg-Witte, Cas Smits, Sophia E Kramer","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001700","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001700","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Hearing impairment can negatively impact socio-emotional well-being. While hearing aids (HA) may improve hearing ability, communication, social participation, and emotional well-being, longitudinal studies are scarce and evidence quality is low. This longitudinal study examines the associations between (research question [RQ] 1) HA uptake and socio-emotional well-being, mediation by self-perceived hearing disability, and differences between subgroups, (RQ2) frequency of HA use (daily number of hours) and socio-emotional well-being, and (RQ3) duration of HA use (years of use) and socio-emotional well-being.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Data from October 2006 to January 2024 from the Netherlands Longitudinal Study on Hearing were used for this study. Every 5 yrs, participants were invited to complete an online digits-in-noise hearing test and survey, which included variables on HA use, psychosocial health, tinnitus, hyperacusis, and self-perceived hearing disability. For RQs 1 and 2, cumulative data from three 5-yr intervals (baseline [T0] to 5-yr follow-up [T1], T1-T2, and T2-T3) was compiled, based on eligibility for a HA at the beginning of the studied time interval but not using it at that time and either reporting HA use (HA uptake) or no HA use (no HA uptake) at follow-up and frequency of use at follow-up. Differences between those who adopted a HA versus those who did not were examined while controlling for pre-(non)uptake socio-emotional outcomes. After applying exclusion criteria, the final samples included n = 281 unique participants for RQ1 and n = 280 for RQ2. For RQ3, participants with 5, 10, or 15 yrs of HA use were identified and analyzed to assess the impact of long-term use, with n = 180 unique participants in the final dataset. Outcomes assessed for each RQ were depression, anxiety, distress, somatization, social loneliness, emotional loneliness, and total loneliness. Gamma regression models with generalized estimating equations were performed to analyze all RQs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Approximately 87% of participants were ≤65 yrs of age at T0. Among individuals without tinnitus, HA uptake was significantly associated with lower depression scores ( p &lt; 0.05). Among those aged &gt;65 yrs, HA uptake was significantly associated with lower total loneliness scores. No significant associations were found between HA uptake and anxiety, somatization, distress, and emotional loneliness. Self-perceived hearing disability did not mediate the relationship between HA uptake and socio-emotional well-being outcomes. No significant associations between the duration of HA use and socio-emotional well-being outcomes were found. Frequency of HA use was not significantly associated with any outcome except somatization, where using a HA for 1 to 4 hrs per day was significantly associated with lower somatization scores.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;This longitudinal study contributes valuable evidence to","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144709983","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":"The Effects of Chronic Substance Misuse on the Auditory and Vestibular Systems: Preliminary Findings.","authors":"Amanda Chiao, Michelle L Hughes, Sarah Rogoz, Priya Karimuddanahalli Premkumar, Delaney Thomas","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001704","DOIUrl":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001704","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Accumulating reports suggest that substance use disorders (SUDs) potentially lead to hearing and/or vestibular loss, particularly when overdose is involved. However, the existing literature is weak, consisting of case reports or small sample studies and that did not comprehensively evaluate both the auditory and vestibular systems. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of chronic substance misuse on behavioral and physiological auditory and vestibular outcomes in adults with substance misuse histories (SUD group) as compared with an age- and sex-matched control group without substance misuse histories. We hypothesized that chronic substance misuse would negatively affect the auditory system, similar to known ototoxic medications, resulting in high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss, and the vestibular system, similar to acute effects of central-mediating medications, resulting in central abnormalities and imbalance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;Data were analyzed for 60 adults with a substance misuse history (mean age, 42.2; range, 20 to 58 years) and 20 adults without (mean age, 37.2; range, 21 to 56 years). Outcome measures included responses on a health and substance-use questionnaire, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment screening, tympanometry, standard and extended high-frequency (EHF) pure-tone air-conduction thresholds, standard and EHF distortion product otoacoustic emissions, click-evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs), speech recognition in noise, oculomotor function, horizontal canal video head impulse test, cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials, and clinical dynamic visual acuity and standing balance tests.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Most participants in the SUD group reported histories of polysubstance misuse. The SUD group had significantly poorer Montreal Cognitive Assessment screening scores than the control group. There was no significant difference between groups for the presence of middle-ear status. Although most thresholds were within the normal range, mean audiometric thresholds were significantly poorer for both the standard and EHF ranges for the SUD group compared with the control group. These patterns held even after adjusting for smoking and noise exposure. Distortion product otoacoustic emission, ABR wave III, and ABR wave V amplitudes were significantly smaller for the SUD group than the control group, with no significant differences between groups for ABR waves III and V latencies, which suggests elevated thresholds from a cochlear origin. Mean speech recognition in noise was not significantly different between groups. There were statistically significant differences or associations between groups for oculomotor function and standing balance. Participants in the SUD group were significantly more likely to have abnormal oculomotor function and impaired tandem stance, even after adjusting for head trauma history. There was an effect of ","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12313148/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144692522","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":"A Survey of Current Audiology Practice in Adult Cochlear Implant Programs and Its Impact on Access to Care.","authors":"Terry A Zwolan, Meredith Holcomb, Barbara Buck, Weston Adkins, Hillary Snapp, Sandra Prentiss","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001703","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objectives: &lt;/strong&gt;Recent expansion of cochlear implant (CI) indications by Medicare to include patients with better preoperative speech recognition and by the United States Food and Drug Administration to include patients with single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss has increased the number of patients who are candidates for a CI. This expansion has the potential to raise the demand for audiological services related to CI, including preoperative determination of CI candidacy and postoperative programming and evaluation of performance. In this study, we evaluated ways that audiological care facilitates or impedes access to care for adult CI candidates and recipients in CI programs across the United States. Such information will help determine if audiologists will be able to meet an increased demand for services resulting from these recent expansions in CI candidacy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Design: &lt;/strong&gt;An electronic survey containing a total of 48 questions presented in either multiple choice or rank order format was distributed electronically and promoted on social media to audiologists working with adult CI candidates or recipients. Responses were collected from November 29, 2023, to January 16, 2024. The survey included questions regarding pre- and postoperative CI care provided to adults. Of these 48 questions, 21 were related to CI access and included appointment availability and wait times, appointment schedules and duration, procedures used to triage the need for follow-up care, and provision of telehealth. This article focuses on responses for the 21 questions related to CI access.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Anonymous surveys were fully or partially completed by 209 audiologists who manage adult CI candidates and recipients in a variety of settings and revealed a variety of findings related to patient care. Results indicate that 54% of clinicians report the preoperative process occurs over 2 separate appointments, and most clinicians (53%) report they always or frequently use a CI manufacturer to assist with preoperative device education and selection. In regard to postoperative care, the median number of times clinicians see patients in the first year is 6, with a range of 3 to 10 appointments. In regard to appointment duration, device activation was the longest (median = 101 min). The 4 appointments reported to occur most often after activation included 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-mo appointments and these ranged in duration from 81 to 84 min. A comparison of the results of this study with previous reports indicates that several recent changes have taken place in CI care, including reduced pre- and postoperative appointment schedules, utilization of procedures to reduce time spent providing nonbillable services, and some utilization of telehealth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Recent changes in CI service delivery have the potential to improve access to care for CI candidates and recipients. Such enhancements are nece","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144661036","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":"Spatial Position Modulates the Benefits of Auditory Inputs for Postural Control.","authors":"Daniel Paromov, Maxime Maheu, Benoit-Antoine Bacon, François Champoux","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001707","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The study aimed to examine the contribution of the position of a sound source to static postural control. The authors hypothesized that in line with the auditory anchorage theory, more benefits would be observed when sounds are positioned in easy-to-localize locations.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A force plate was used to measure sway area, sway velocity, and standard deviation in 23 participants. Auditory stimuli were presented at various azimuth angles (0°, 45°, 90°), and their effects were compared with a silent baseline condition without any added auditory input.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The present results revealed a significant improvement in sway parameters when auditory inputs were added. However, in contrast to the 0° and 45° locations, the 90° location did not affect sway area and SD when compared with the condition without auditory input. Improvement was observed across all the locations of the auditory inputs for sway velocity.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings support the auditory anchorage theory, suggesting that auditory objects positioned in areas that are easy to localize contribute more effectively to postural stabilization.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144651288","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":"Speech-in-Noise Ability and Signal to Noise Ratio Predict the Timing of Hearing-Impaired Listeners' Intertalker Saccades When Observing Conversational Turn-Taking: An Explorative Investigation.","authors":"Martha M Shiell, Sergi Rotger-Griful, Martin A Skoglund, Gitte Keidser, Johannes Zaar","doi":"10.1097/AUD.0000000000001701","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001701","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We explored the hypothesis that, when listeners visually follow the turn-taking of talkers engaged in a conversation, the timing of their eye movements is related to their ability to follow the conversation.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>We made use of a re-purposed dataset where adults with hearing impairment (N = 17), assisted by hearing aids, observed audiovisual recordings of dyadic conversations presented via a television screen and loudspeakers. The recordings were presented with multitalker babble noise at four signal to noise ratios (SNRs), in 4-dB steps ranging from -4 to 8 dB, to modulate the participants' ability to follow the conversation. We extracted time windows around conversation floor transfers (FTs) in the stimulus where participants reacted by moving their gaze from one talker to the next, termed FT-intertalker saccades (ITS). We recorded the timing of this eye movement relative to the onset of the new talker's speech. In addition, participants completed a separate word-recognition test to measure their speech perception in noise (SPIN) ability at the same SNRs as used for the conversation stimuli. We predicted that the timing of FT-ITS would be delayed with difficult SNR levels and for listeners with low SPIN ability. The effect of SPIN ability was tested first as a continuous variable, and subsequently with participants divided into high and low SPIN-ability groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Multilevel linear modeling showed that the timing of FT-ITS was predicted by SNR condition and SPIN group, but no effect was found for SPIN ability as a continuous variable. Post hoc comparisons (uncorrected for multiple comparisons) indicated that delayed FT-ITS were associated with low SPIN ability, and both the hardest and easiest SNR conditions. The full model accounted for 34.5% of the variance in the data, but the fixed effects of SPIN and SNR together accounted for only 2.3%.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although the results should be interpreted with caution due to limitations in the experiment design, they provide preliminary support that FT-ITS timing can be used as a measure of hearing-impaired listeners' ability to follow a conversation. This first exploration of this question can serve future studies on this topic, providing guidance on the range of perceptual difficulty where this measure may be sensitive, and recommending a modeling approach that takes into account differences between stimuli.</p>","PeriodicalId":55172,"journal":{"name":"Ear and Hearing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144638681","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}