Audiology and Neuro-Otology最新文献

{"title":"Adults Implanted as Children: Long-Term Educational, Occupational, and Speech Perception Outcomes.","authors":"Emily R Spitzer, Alexandria Juliet Lichtl, Susan B Waltzman","doi":"10.1159/000545788","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000545788","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study investigates factors that relate to long-term educational and occupational outcomes of adults who received cochlear implants (CIs) during childhood.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective chart review was conducted on 109 adults who received a CI before the age of 15 between 2000 and 2012 at a US tertiary medical center. Demographic variables, speech perception scores, and educational and vocational achievements were analyzed. Current US Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data were used for comparison.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The median age at implantation was 2.81 years, and the median age at data collection was 27.30 years. Most subjects were unilaterally implanted (63.3%) and used an oral communication approach (89.0%). Educational outcomes showed that 17% completed a high school diploma or less, and 9% completed an associates or technical degree. Seventy-two percent of the subjects achieved a bachelor's degree or higher, significantly higher than the general US population (37.9%). Occupational outcomes indicated that subjects were employed across various job categories, with a higher proportion in jobs requiring considerable preparation (job zone 4) compared to the general population. There was a significant negative correlation between age at implantation and speech perception scores. Better word recognition scores were also associated with better educational and occupational outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Adults who received CIs as children demonstrate excellent educational and occupational outcomes, surpassing those of the general US population. Early implantation and the absence of additional disabilities positively influence these outcomes. Continued investigation of nonspeech outcomes and the factors that influence them is essential to provide better support services for future cohorts.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12119057/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144175845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of Auditory Temporal Processing in Individuals with Subjective Tinnitus Using Gap Detection and Forward Masking Tests.","authors":"Hatice Kübra Bozkurt, Emine Aydin, F Ceyda Akin Öçal, Songül Aksoy, Bülent Satar","doi":"10.1159/000546372","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000546372","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study aimed to investigate auditory temporal processing skills and word discrimination performance in noise among individuals with subjective tinnitus and normal hearing.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifty-five individuals were included: 27 individuals with chronic subjective tinnitus in the study group and 28 healthy individuals in the control group. Interventions included the Word-in-Noise Discrimination Test (WIND), auditory temporal processing tests (Gap Detection Test [GDT] and Forward Masking Test [FMT]), the Standardized Mini Mental Test for cognitive assessment, and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory to evaluate the impact of tinnitus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the GDT and FMT results, both right and left ear values indicated significantly poorer performance in the study group compared to the control group (CG, p < 0.05). A significant difference was also observed between the study and CGs in the WIND test results (p < 0.05). However, when the study group was divided into two subgroups based on the presence or absence of WIND problems, no significant difference in GDT and FMT performance was found between the subgroups (p > 0.05). This may be due to the limited sample size in these subgroups (n = 9 vs. n = 18), which may have reduced the statistical power to detect subtle effects.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Tinnitus poses a significant burden for patients; thus, assessing its impact on daily activities and quality of life is essential.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144175922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Analysis of Hearing Status and Hearing Healthcare Utilization of English-Speaking Expatriates in Thailand.","authors":"Shade Avery Kirjava, Amornphat Kitro, Ratana Sapbamrer, Pheerasak Assavanopakun, Rungnapa Malasao, Pimbucha Rusmevichientong, Michele M Wood","doi":"10.1159/000545789","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000545789","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study seeks to assess the prevalence of hearing difficulties and hearing healthcare system utilization among English-speaking migrants living in Thailand.</p><p><strong>Design, setting, and participants: </strong>A cross-sectional survey was digitally distributed to online forums and communities for English-speaking migrants living in Thailand. Ninety participants were included in the study.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy-seven percent of men and 75.8% of women reported at least some hearing difficulty. People who reported hearing loss were more likely to be white, and people who reported greater social disruption due to hearing difficulty were more likely to be younger or transgender. Though people with more hearing loss had received hearing testing more recently than peers with less hearing loss, very few participants treated their hearing loss with hearing aids and no participants received their hearing healthcare services in Thailand.</p><p><strong>Conclusion and relevance: </strong>This study shows that English speaking migrants living in Thailand may have hearing difficulty and low rates of hearing healthcare utilization. These results highlight the need for additional research to understand the hearing healthcare needs of this population.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144112580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Migraine Abortive Drugs on Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Odds: A Database Analysis.","authors":"Marwin Li, Claire Ceriani, Hongyan Li","doi":"10.1159/000545977","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000545977","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Patients with migraine may be more susceptible to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) than the general population. Although the underlying pathophysiology remains uncertain, it has been postulated that recurrent vasospasms associated with migraine attacks may cause inner ear ischemia and changes in endolymph pressure. Currently, there are no specific recommendations for preventing BPPV in this vulnerable patient population. Among commonly used migraine abortive drugs, triptans, which are selective serotonin agonists, are known to be vasoconstrictive, whereas calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antagonists are not. This population-based study uses a federated electronic medical record (EMR) database to characterize the prevalence of BPPV among migraine patients and its relevance to their choice of abortive drug.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this case-control study, EMR data from the TriNetX US Collaborative Network were queried for subjects who were seen at a participating healthcare organization for a vestibular disorder (ICD10: H81) between 2019 and 2024. Subjects must also have a concomitant, pre-existing diagnosis of migraine (G43). These patients were stratified by age (18-44, 45-64, 65+ years) and sex. The resulting cohorts were then divided into those with and without a BPPV diagnosis (H81.1). Patients with prior documented head trauma (S02, S06, S09), middle or inner ear surgery, or vitamin D deficiency (E55) were excluded. The prevalence of pre-existing triptan and CGRP antagonist use of each BPPV cohort was compared against the non-BPPV cohort of the same age and sex using χ2 analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>As expected, the female subject population had significantly higher prevalence of migraine (17.06% vs. 7.26%, p < 0.0001) than the males. Among migraine patients of all ages and sexes, triptan use was significantly more common among BPPV patients than non-BPPV patients (30.90% vs. 25.35%, p < 0.0001). Conversely, CGRP antagonists were more commonly used by non-BPPV patients than by BPPV patients (3.17% vs. 2.45%, p = 0.0005).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study shows that, among patients with vestibular disorders, migraine patients with BPPV are more often exposed to triptans, and less to CGRP antagonists, than those without BPPV. Triptans may increase the prevalence of BPPV by potentiating vasoconstriction during migraine attacks, which may result in inner ear ischemia and alterations of endolymphatic pressure, while CGRP antagonists do not. Therefore, CGRP antagonists may be preferable over triptans for preventing BPPV in migraine patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144041399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Importance of the Electrode-Neural Interface in Supporting Long-Term Outcomes in Cochlear Implantation: Expert Opinion.","authors":"Ángel Ramos-Macias, Robert Briggs, Byung Yoon Choi, David Friedmann, Akira Ishiyama, Thomas Lenarz, Emmanuel Mylanus, Stephen O'Leary, J Thomas Roland, Andrzej Zarowski","doi":"10.1159/000546003","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000546003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Since first introduced in the mid-1980s, cochlear implant (CI) technology has significantly evolved to reach the current state of the art. Commencing with straight, lateral wall electrode arrays, advances in the last decade led to the development of slim perimodiolar arrays that lie closer to the electrically targeted spiral ganglion. Over the years, as a consequence of improving hearing benefits, CI indications have been steadily expanded. Today, individuals with moderately severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss, many with residual hearing in the low-frequency range, may receive a CI in one or both ears.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Before implantation, individual recipient characteristics, such as years of auditory deprivation, hearing thresholds, and speech understanding ability with conventional amplification, can have an effect on CI hearing outcomes. Also individuals with normal hearing/mild hearing loss in the low frequencies can also qualify for CI. Surgical procedures such as careful, soft surgery techniques are imperative to reduce cochlear trauma and optimize outcomes and can be supported by surgical guidance tools and drug therapies to help preserve the delicate intracochlear structures and also for patients with single-side deafness. Histopathological investigations provide evidence that support the design concept of slim perimodiolar electrode arrays. Modiolar proximity and scalar tympani location permit energy-efficient, focused electrical stimulation of the targeted neural interface, while minimizing injury to the fine structures of the intracochlear lateral wall and its blood supply.</p><p><strong>Key messages: </strong>Modiolar electrode arrays may provide highly consistent scala tympani placement and modiolar proximity which may improve functional hearing outcomes, compared to lateral wall electrode array results. Modiolar proximity can result in narrower spread of excitation, reduced channel interaction, lower electrical stimulation thresholds and may improve speech understanding. Reservation of functional residual low-frequency hearing is possible with both straight and perimodiolar electrode arrays.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144053425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Emotional Responses to Music Are Diminished in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users.","authors":"Isaac L Alter, Alexander Chern, Megan E Kuhlmey, Meghan A Despotidis, Scott Kelly, Michael W Denham, Alexis S Leiderman, Anil K Lalwani","doi":"10.1159/000543299","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000543299","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Emotional response to music, though a central facet of music listening, remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the emotional responses to music among bilateral cochlear implantees.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Bilateral CI users and normal-hearing (NH) controls were recruited from a tertiary academic center and community hearing loss groups. Participants listened (via an online survey) to ten previously validated 15-s musical clips representing multiple genres and wide range of valence (happiness vs. sadness) and arousal (excitement vs. calm) and rated the musical clips on validated nine-point visual analog scales of valence and arousal.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 25 bilateral CI users and 18 NH controls completed the study. Compared to NH controls, CI users demonstrated significantly increased error in valence identification (mean [SD] 1.75 [0.61] vs. 1.16 [0.29], p < 0.001) but equivalent arousal error. There were significant differences for 8 of 20 total ratings between NH and CI groups. Additionally, CI users demonstrated a significantly constricted range of arousal (4.69 [1.39] vs. 6.04 [1.33], p = 0.0025) but a preserved range of valence (4.99 [1.57] vs. 5.62 [1.13], p = 0.13). Implantees reported significantly lower music enjoyment (5.78 [3.57] vs. 8.57 [1.17], p = 0.0016) than NH controls, and enjoyment was significantly associated with both valence and arousal range.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Bilateral CI users' emotional response to music is significantly constricted compared to NH controls. Blunted appreciation of emotional content likely contributes to reduced music enjoyment among cochlear implantees and is a critical target for improvement.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vibrant Soundbridge Round Window Vibroplasty: Safety, Coupling Efficiency, and Speech Outcome of the Most Common Coupling Modalities.","authors":"Nicole Knölke, Susan Busch, Thomas Lenarz, Hannes Maier","doi":"10.1159/000545335","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000545335","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The floating mass transducer (FMT) of the Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) is successfully used for reverse stimulation of the round window membrane (RWM) since 2005, enabling the treatment of conductive and mixed hearing loss. The FMT can be placed directly to the RWM or indirectly by using an interposed material such as fascia and Tutopatch, or a coupler, e.g., the round window coupler (RWC), the round window soft (RWS) coupler, or the custom-made Hannover coupler version 2 (HCV2). The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the long-term outcome of the most common VSB round window (RW) coupling modalities in our clinic with regard to (1) safety and preservation of residual hearing, (2) coupling efficiency (Ceff), and (3) speech outcome.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 111 RW vibroplasties, a surgical procedure including the implantation of the VSB, in 102 ears (95 patients) performed at the Hannover Medical School between 2006 and 2021 were analyzed. Seventy-nine RW vibroplasties in ears with available preoperative bone conduction pure tone average (BC PTA4) were included in the safety analysis, focusing on adverse events (AEs). Furthermore, the audiological outcomes were evaluated in 56 ears (52 patients, 4 bilateral implanted) preoperatively, at initial activation (6-8 weeks), 2 years, and 5 years, including BC PTA4 (at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz), Ceff (in situ measurement - BC PTA4), effective gain (BC PTA4 - sound field threshold), and monosyllable word recognition score (WRS; Freiburg monosyllable test at 65 dB SPL).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The safety analysis showed a total mean AE rate of 29.1%. A statistically significant decline over time in BC PTA4 was found in groups RWS and HCV2 by 7.6 dB and 8.8 dB (paired t test, p = 0.022 and p ≤ 0.001, respectively), at 2 years. The WRS improved over time in all groups, resulting in an overall mean score of 81.1% in the range 70.0% to 90.8% at 2 years, with a statistically significant improvement between IA and 2 years and the best mean WRS of 90.8% at 2 years in group HCV2 (paired t test, p ≤ 0.001). While the Ceff was stable and below 25 dB at all time points in most groups, it improved statistically significantly in group RWC by a total of 9.9 dB between IA and 5 years to 16.8 dB (paired t test, p ≤ 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The RW vibroplasty is a safe surgery, though complex and challenging. All investigated coupling modalities provided effective treatment for conductive and mixed hearing loss. Patients in group RWC and HCV2 tended to perform noticeably better in terms of aided speech understanding and Ceff than those in the other groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12060814/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validation and Adaptation of the Arabic Version of the Skarzynski Tinnitus Scale.","authors":"Saad Elzayat, Hussein A El-Shirbeny, Ibrahim Gehad, Ahmed Morshedy, Wessam Mostafa Essawy, Ashraf Fayed, Salma Ragab, Haitham H Elfarargy","doi":"10.1159/000544805","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000544805","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study aimed to translate the Skarzynski Tinnitus Scale (STS) into Arabic, conduct a cross-cultural adaptation, and validate its psychometric properties.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the STS were carried out in five main steps. A total of 152 participants were divided into two groups: 79 (52%) cases complaining of tinnitus and 73 (48%) in the control group without tinnitus.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The scale required no substantial modifications during the translation process. Internal consistency was measured by Cronbach α for each of the three subscales and the total score. The overall psychological distress subscale, Cronbach α was 0.815; for the functional scale α was 0.787; for the coping subscale α was 0.555; and for global STS, α was 0.921. The STS global score and the psychological distress subscale had extremely high consistency.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The translation and adaptation of the STS established linguistic and Arabic cultural equivalence with the original version. Furthermore, the adapted version demonstrated good internal consistency. The results suggest that the STS is suitable for use in a clinical setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation of the Effect of Cognitive Additional Tasks on Functional Head Impulse Test in Healthy Individuals.","authors":"Büşra Sezer, Mine Baydan Aran","doi":"10.1159/000544719","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000544719","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Performing two tasks simultaneously may present various challenges for the human cognitive system. This study investigates how concurrent cognitive tasks impact the performance of the functional head impulse test (fHIT) in healthy adults. It was hypothesized that adding a cognitive load during fHIT would reduce the test's scores due to shared attentional resources.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Twenty-seven participants completed the functional head impulse test (fHIT) and verbal fluency tests simultaneously. The study was designed in three stages: (1) recording fHIT results without any cognitive task, (2) completing the categorical fluency test and fHIT concurrently, and (3) administering the phonemic fluency test and fHIT simultaneously, with results recorded.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Significant differences were observed in fHIT performance with and without additional cognitive tasks. Categorical tasks (e.g., animal and furniture categories) and phonemic tasks (e.g., words starting with \"K,\" \"A,\" or \"S\") impacted fHIT results, with notable performance reductions.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrates that dual-task scenarios involving cognitive and vestibular demands adversely affect fHIT performance. The findings underscore the importance of attentional capacity in tasks requiring simultaneous cognitive and visual-oculomotor processing. These insights could guide future clinical applications in assessing and rehabilitating vestibular and cognitive deficits.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Wearing Hearing Aids on Gait and Cognition: A Pilot Study.","authors":"Ryota Sakurai, Maki Nishinakagawa, Keigo Hinakura, Masatoki Takahashi","doi":"10.1159/000544829","DOIUrl":"10.1159/000544829","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Positive effects of hearing aids (HA) have been suggested. However, their impact on gait performance, which is closely associated with hearing loss and cognition, remains unclear. This pilot study assessed the impact of wearing HA on gait performance among patients with age-related hearing loss (ARHL).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This single-arm trial compared gait performance of patients with ARHL before and after wearing HA. Participants diagnosed with ARHL and prescribed HA by an audiologist wore the HA gradually over 1 week. They then underwent a baseline assessment before wearing HA consistently. After wearing the HA for 1 year, participants underwent a follow-up assessment that included evaluations of gait and cognitive performance, fear of falling, incidental falls, and well-being using WHO-5.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 10 participants included, one withdrew during the follow-up period. Intention-to-treat analyses showed improvements in gait step time at both usual and maximum paces due to HA use. Cognitive function, including Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and delayed verbal recall on the logical memory test, also significantly improved at follow-up. Furthermore, reduced fear of falling and increased WHO-5 scores was observed after 1 year of HA use. Conversely, the rate of incidental falls did not decrease.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>HA use may contribute to improved gait performance and reduced anxiety related to physical function, in addition to cognitive function and well-being. Although the results should be interpreted with caution due to the non-randomized controlled trial design and small sample size, the findings suggest that improving hearing acuity among older adults may enhance overall health status.</p>","PeriodicalId":55432,"journal":{"name":"Audiology and Neuro-Otology","volume":" ","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143538188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}