Applying Kurtosis as an Indirect Metric of Noise Temporal Structure in the Assessment of Hearing Loss Associated With Occupational Complex Noise Exposure
The objective of this study was to investigate the principal characteristics of the relationship between occupational NIHL and the temporal structure of noise. Methods: Audiometric and shift-long noise exposure data were collected from 3102 Chinese manufacturing workers from six typical industries through a cross-sectional survey. In data analysis, A-weighted 8-h equivalent SPL (LAeq.8h), peak SPL, and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) were used as noise energy indicators, while kurtosis (β) was used as the indicator of noise temporal structure. Two NIHL were defined: (1) high-frequency noise-induced hearing loss (HF...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Ecological Momentary Assessment: A Field Evaluation of Subjective Ratings of Speech in Noise
Purpose: As hearing rehabilitation research evolves to include both retrospective and momentary assessment outcome measures, it is important to understand how in-the-moment contextual factors influence subjective ratings. We aimed to determine, over a 4-week period of participants responding to ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) in their own environments, whether: (1) participants will complete surveys in speech-in-noise listening situations; (2) ratings of speech in noise change in a predictable manner as the acoustic conditions change; and (3) EMAs provide patient insights beyond those provided from retrospectiv...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Comparative Analysis of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential in Cochlear Implant Users
Conclusions: This study successfully compared aCAEP and eCAEP in CI users. Both acoustic and electrical P1–N1–P2 recordings obtained were clear and reliable, with good correlation. Latency increased with decreasing stimulation level, while amplitude decreased. eCAEP is potentially a better option to verify speech detection at the cortical level because it (1) uses direct stimulation and therefore creates less interference and delay of the sound processor and (2) creates more flexibility with the recording setup and stimulation setting. As such, eCAEP is an alternative method for CI optimization. (Source: Ear and Hearing)
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Adult Auditory Brainstem Implant Outcomes and Three-Dimensional Electrode Array Position on Computed Tomography
Conclusion: ABI recipients with better speech perception appear to share a profile of arrays that are tilted superiorly as compared to recipients with lower speech perception levels. These ABI recipients have a high number of active electrodes (10 or more) and require less electrical charge on individual electrodes to achieve optimal stimulation. (Source: Ear and Hearing)
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Weighting of Prosodic and Lexical-Semantic Cues for Emotion Identification in Spectrally Degraded Speech and With Cochlear Implants
Conclusions: The present study confirmed previous findings of prosodic dominance for emotion perception by NH listeners in the full-spectrum condition. Further, novel findings with CI patients and NH listeners in the CI-simulated conditions showed reduced reliance on prosodic cues and increased reliance on lexical-semantic cues to emotion. These results have implications for CI listeners’ ability to perceive conflicts between prosodic and lexical-semantic cues, with repercussions for their identification of sarcasm and humor. Understanding instances of sarcasm or humor can impact a person’s ability to develop relat...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Development of Masked Speech Detection Thresholds in 2- to 15-year-old Children: Speech-Shaped Noise and Two-Talker Speech Maskers
Conclusions: Different developmental patterns were seen across the two maskers, with more pronounced child–adult differences and prolonged immaturity during childhood for the two-talker masker relative to the speech-shaped noise masker. Our data do not support the idea that there is rapid improvement of masked speech detection thresholds between 2.5 and 5 years of age. This study also highlights that our observer-based method can be used to collect reliable behavioral data from toddlers and preschoolers—a time period where we know little about auditory development. (Source: Ear and Hearing)
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Rasch Analysis of the Listening Effort Questionnaire—Cochlear Implant
Conclusions: Overall, the LEQ-CI21 was found to meet the Rasch model criteria for interval-level measurement. The LEQ-CI21 is the first PROM to be developed specifically for the measurement of perceived listening effort and one of the first patient-reported outcome measures for use with CI patients to be developed using Rasch analysis. The LEQ-CI21 has the potential to be used as a research tool and in clinical practice to evaluate perceived listening effort in daily life. Further psychometric evaluation of the LEQ-CI21 is planned. (Source: Ear and Hearing)
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Effect of Test Realism on Speech-in-noise Outcomes in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users
Conclusions: The results obtained here suggest that standard speech-in-noise tests overestimate the performance of cochlear implant recipients in the real world. To address this limitation, future assessments need to improve the realism over current tests by considering the realism of both, the speech and the noise materials. Likewise, speech intelligibility data under realistic conditions suggest that, insofar as these results can be considered representative of real-life performance, conversational speech and noise levels common to cochlear implant recipients are challenging in terms of speech intelligibility, with a...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Be Part of the Conversation: Audiology Messaging During a Hearing Screening
Conclusions: The greater likelihood of health-positive responses in the presence of the gain-framed message suggests that this framing strategy may have a positive influence on attitudes toward hearing health behaviors among individuals under 40 years of age with no history of hearing loss. (Source: Ear and Hearing)
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

The Effects of Task Difficulty Predictability and Noise Reduction on Recall Performance and Pupil Dilation Responses
Conclusions: Task difficulty predictability did not have an effect on resource allocation, since recall performance was similar independently of whether task difficulty was predictable or unpredictable. The higher sentence baseline dilation when task difficulty was unpredictable likely reflected a difference in the recall strategy or higher degree of task engagement/alertness or arousal. Hence, pupillometry captured processes which the SWIR test does not capture. Noise reduction frees up resources to be used for storage of speech, which was reflected in the better recall performance and larger sentence baseline dilatio...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Predicting Audiovisual Word Recognition in Noisy Situations: Toward Precision Audiology
Conclusions: The present results strongly support Tye-Murray et al.’s hypothesis that AV performance can be accurately predicted from unimodal performance and that knowing individuals’ ages does not increase the accuracy of that prediction. Our results represent an important initial step in extending Tye-Murray et al.’s findings to situations more like those encountered in everyday communication. The accuracy with which speech perception was predicted in this study foreshadows a form of precision audiology in which determining individual strengths and weaknesses in unimodal and multimodal speech perception facili...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Listening Difficulties in Children With Normal Audiograms: Relation to Hearing and Cognition
This report is an overview of the SICLiD study and focuses on the children’s behavioral performance. The overall goals of SICLiD were to understand the auditory and other neural mechanisms underlying childhood listening difficulties and translate that understanding into clinical assessment and, ultimately, intervention. Design: Cross-sectional behavioral assessment of children with “listening difficulties” and an age-matched “typically developing” control group. Caregivers completed the ECLiPS, and the resulting total standardized composite score formed the basis of further descriptive statistics, univaria...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Cochlear Synaptopathy due to Mutations in OTOF Gene May Result in Stable Mild Hearing Loss and Severe Impairment of Speech Perception
Conclusions: These findings indicate that disordered synchrony in auditory fiber activity underlies the impairment of speech perception in patients carrying biallelic mutations in OTOF gene who show a stable phenotype of mild hearing loss. Abnormal nerve synchrony with preservation of hearing sensitivity is consistent with selective impairment of vesicle replenishment at the ribbon synapses with relative preservation of synaptic exocytosis. Cochlear implants are effective in restoring speech perception and synchronous activation of the auditory pathway by directly stimulating auditory fibers. (Source: Ear and Hearing)
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Estimated Prevalence of Functional Hearing Difficulties in Blast-Exposed Service Members With Normal to Near–Normal-Hearing Thresholds
Conclusions: These elevated rates of abnormal performance suggest that roughly 33.6% of Active-Duty service members (or approximately 423,000) with normal to near–normal-hearing thresholds (i.e., H1 profile) are at some risk for FHCD, and about 5.7% (approximately 72,000) are at high risk, but are currently untested and undetected within the current fitness-for-duty standards. Service members identified as “at risk” for FHCD according to the metrics used in the present study, in spite of their excellent hearing thresholds, require further testing to determine whether they have sustained damage to peripheral and e...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research

Personalizing Transient Noise Reduction Algorithm Settings for Cochlear Implant Users
Conclusions: Our study results indicate that personalizing noise reduction settings of a multiband TNR algorithm can significantly improve speech intelligibility in transient noise, but only under challenging listening conditions around the SRT. At more favorable SNRs (SRT + 3 dB), this benefit was lost. We hypothesize that TNRmb was beneficial at lower SNRs, because of more effective artifact detection under those conditions. Group-averaged settings of the multiband algorithm did not significantly affect speech recognition. TNRbb decreased speech recognition significantly using personalized parameter settings. Rating ...
Source: Ear and Hearing - October 26, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research