Degree Of Hearing Loss Research Articles

Recovery From Otitis Media and Associated Factors Among 1- to 6-Year-Old Children in South India: A Longitudinal Study.

This study was aimed at assessing recovery from otitis media (OM) and variables associated with it among 1- to 6-year-old children. Subjects and. We assessed 87 children with OM otologically and audiologically. Medicines were prescribed, and medication compliance was ensured. The children were followed up after 3 months to judge the status of OM as resolved or recurrent. Data were statistically analyzed to derive the risk of recurrence of OM with effusion (OME) and acute OM by degree of hearing loss, type of tympanogram, age group, and sex. The overall recurrence rate was 26%. The risk of recurrence was higher for OME (odds ratio [OR]=4.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.90 to 9.83); at AC auditory brainstem peak V responses up to 40 dBnHL (OR=5.20; 95% CI: 2.05 to 13), 50 dBnHL (OR=3.47; 95% CI: 0.5 to 23), and 60 dBnHL (OR=16.09; 95% CI: 4.36 to 1.2); in B (OR= 3.16; 95% CI: 1.36 to 7.33) and C tympanograms (OR=2.83; 95% CI: 0.70 to 11.41); and in the age group of 5-6 years (OR=8, 95% CI: 2.23 to 28). The risk of recurrence of OM did not differ between male and female patients. The rate of recurrence was comparable to or lower than that reported in the pediatric population of other countries. The findings suggest that children with OME, severe pathology, or age of 5-6 years require more attention and frequent monitoring to minimize the risk of recurrence.

Communicating Emotion: Vocal Expression of Linguistic and Emotional Prosody in Children With Mild to Profound Hearing Loss Compared With That of Normal Hearing Peers.

Emotional prosody is known to play an important role in social communication. Research has shown that children with cochlear implants (CCIs) may face challenges in their ability to express prosody, as their expressions may have less distinct acoustic contrasts and therefore may be judged less accurately. The prosody of children with milder degrees of hearing loss, wearing hearing aids, has sparsely been investigated. More understanding of the prosodic expression by children with hearing loss, hearing aid users in particular, could create more awareness among healthcare professionals and parents on limitations in social communication, which awareness may lead to more targeted rehabilitation. This study aimed to compare the prosodic expression potential of children wearing hearing aids (CHA) with that of CCIs and children with normal hearing (CNH). In this prospective experimental study, utterances of pediatric hearing aid users, cochlear implant users, and CNH containing emotional expressions (happy, sad, and angry) were recorded during a reading task. Of the utterances, three acoustic properties were calculated: fundamental frequency (F0), variance in fundamental frequency (SD of F0), and intensity. Acoustic properties of the utterances were compared within subjects and between groups. A total of 75 children were included (CHA: 26, CCI: 23, and CNH: 26). Participants were between 7 and 13 years of age. The 15 CCI with congenital hearing loss had received the cochlear implant at median age of 8 months. The acoustic patterns of emotions uttered by CHA were similar to those of CCI and CNH. Only in CCI, we found no difference in F0 variation between happiness and anger, although an intensity difference was present. In addition, CCI and CHA produced poorer happy-sad contrasts than did CNH. The findings of this study suggest that on a fundamental, acoustic level, both CHA and CCI have a prosodic expression potential that is almost on par with normal hearing peers. However, there were some minor limitations observed in the prosodic expression of these children, it is important to determine whether these differences are perceptible to listeners and could affect social communication. This study sets the groundwork for more research that will help us fully understand the implications of these findings and how they may affect the communication abilities of these children. With a clearer understanding of these factors, we can develop effective ways to help improve their communication skills.

#4989 FIRST INTERIM ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DISTAL RENAL TUBULAR ACIDOSIS REGISTRY

Abstract Background and Aims Primary Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis (dRTA) is a rare genetic condition characterized by impaired capacity of A-type intercalated cells to excrete excess of H+ ions. The disease is caused primarily by pathogenic variants in the SLC4A1 gene encoding for the basolateral anion exchanger 1 (AE1) or the ATP6V1B1 and ATP6V0A4 genes encoding for two subunits of the apical proton ATPase. The latter also cause variable degrees of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Additional genes include WDR72 that is associated with amelogenesis imperfecta and FOXI1 that also causes SNHL. To understand better the impact of alkali treatment on the natural history of dRTA, a European prospective registry has been created in collaboration with the ERKNet European Reference Network. Method We present a first interim descriptive analysis of first 182 patients that have been collected from 2019 to 2022. Treatment data are under analysis and are not included. Results To date, mostly paediatric patients (79%) have been included in the registry. A genetic diagnosis was available in 111/182 (61%) of patients and showed the following distribution of underlying genes: ATP6V0A4: 45%, ATP6V1B1: 41%, SLC4A1: 14%. Variants in WDR72 and FOXI1 were reported in one patient each. Overall, we observed no major differences in blood pressure and in urinary/blood parameters, when comparing children vs adults or proton ATPase vs AE1 defects (partially shown in tables 1 and 2). Adult patients were on average diagnosed later, had more frequently nephrolithiasis and higher BMI. In part, differences may reflect selections biases that will be assessed with the collection of longitudinal data. As expected, patients with proton pump defects were diagnosed earlier and had more frequently SNHL. The degree of nephrocalcinosis and the estimated glomerular filtration rates were similar when comparing all groups. None of the patients had developed end stage kidney disease. Conclusion This first report demonstrates successful enrolment of a cohort of patients with dRTA. Enrolment is still ongoing. Longitudinal data will allow assessing the impact of alkali therapy on the long-term outcome.

Factors Impacting the Use or Rejection of Hearing Aids-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

To examine the prevalence of adherence to hearing aids and determine their rejection causes. This study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting terms for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We performed an electronic search using PubMed, BVS, and Embase. 21 studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected. They analyzed a total of 12,696 individuals. We observed that the most common causes for positive adherence to hearing aid use included having a higher degree of hearing loss, patients being aware of their condition, and requiring the device in their daily life. The most common causes for rejection were the lack of perceived benefits or discomfort with the use of the device. The results from the meta-analysis show a prevalence of patients who used their hearing aid of 0.623 (95% CI 0.531, 0.714). Both groups are highly heterogeneous (I2 = 99.31% in each group, p < 0.05). A significant proportion of patients (38%) do not use their hearing aid devices. Homogeneous multicenter studies using the same methodology are needed to analyze the causes of rejection of hearing aids.

Functional connectivity changes in infants with varying degrees of unilateral hearing loss.

It has been proved that unilateral hearing loss (UHL) can cause functional connectivity alterations in adults. However, the mechanism of the human brain coping with the challenge of unilateral hearing deprivation at very early developmental phases remains poorly understood. Here, we performed a resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study on 3- to 10-month-old infants with varying degrees of unilateral hearing loss to investigate the effect of unilateral auditory deprivation in infants. Using network-based statistics, increased functional connectivity was observed in single-sided deafness (SSD) compared with normal hearing infants, and the right middle temporal gyrus was the most involved nodes. In addition, changes in cortical function in infants were related to the degree of hearing loss, with significantly increased functional connectivity in infants with severe to profound unilateral hearing loss compared with the ones with mild to moderate. Moreover, more significant cortical functional recombination changes were found in right-SSD than in left-SSD infants. For the first time, our study provides evidence for the effects of unilateral hearing deprivation on the early cortical development of the human brain, which would also act as a reference for intervention decisions in children with unilateral hearing loss in clinical settings.

Algorithm for selecting patients for cochlear implantation. Lecture for physicians

At the present stage in the world there are many methods for restoring hearing in humans, but, unfortunately, not all methods are effective for high-grade hearing loss or deafness. Carrying out timely rehabilitation of patients with a deep degree of hearing loss, especially in childhood, is extremely important for social and psychological adaptation in society. In patients with severe hearing loss, cochlear implant surgery is the most effective treatment. This operation is possible while maintaining the anatomy of the inner ear and the conduction of the auditory nerve. This lecture details the general principles of rehabilitation of patients with hearing impairments of various etiologies, the tactics of selecting patients for cochlear implantation, which is of great importance for choosing a method for treating patients with hearing loss and their psychosocial adaptation.

Subjective and objective hearing loss among US adult cancer survivors: A national cross-sectional study.

e24059 Background: Approximately 13% of adults had some degree of hearing loss (HL), and the prevalence is higher among adults aged 65 and over (30.9%). Approximately 50-80% of the childhood, adolescent and young adult cancer survivor population report HL following treatment with high-dose platinum-based chemotherapy, head or brain radiotherapy. We aimed to 1) estimate the prevalence of subjective and objective hearing loss (HL) among cancer survivors and compare to the general population; 2) assess the performance of subjective HL questions in detecting HL by audiometry among cancer survivors. Methods: Adults aged 20-80 years old were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The weighted prevalence of subjective HL (having troublesome hearing and tinnitus) and objective HL (speech-frequency HL and high-frequency HL) by audiometry test was calculated. Chi-square test and multi-adjusted logistic regression models were used to compare HL between cancer survivors and the general population. To evaluate the performance of subjective HL questions as a tool to screen for objective HL by audiometry, area under the curve (AUC) were estimated using age-and gender- adjusted logistic regression. Results: Compared to the general population, cancer survivors had a statistically significantly higher prevalence of troublesome hearing (aOR = 1.43; 95%CI:1.22-1.68), tinnitus (aOR = 1.28; 95%CI:1.08-1.53), speech-frequency HL (SFHL) (aOR = 1.44; 95%CI:1.20-1.73) and high-frequency HL (HFHL) (aOR = 1.74; 95%CI:1.45-2.09). The sensitivity and specificity of the combined subjective questions “whether having troublesome hearing and/or tinnitus” in detecting HL was shown in Table. The age- and gender- adjusted AUC for detecting SFHL and HFHL using combined questions was 0.88 and 0.90. Conclusions: Cancer survivors have a significantly higher prevalence of both subjective and objective HL, but a lack of hearing examination. Two subjective HL questions could accurately identify those have true HL and provide a simple and efficient screening tool for providers. Cancer survivors and their families should be educated and encouraged to discuss hearing concerns, and providers should facilitate raising awareness and provide early screening and timely referral when HL is identified.[Table: see text]

Expanding Understanding of Electrocochleography in Cochlear Implantation: Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder With Normal Pure Tone Average.

Describe the preoperative decision-making, intraoperative electrocochleographic (ECoG) findings, and outcome of cochlear implantation (CI) in a patient with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) and normal pure-tone thresholds. A 19-year-old with a history of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and seizures was referred for hearing rehabilitation in the setting of typical hearing by pure tone audiometry but poor speech understanding. A diagnosis of ANSD was made based on acoustic brainstem response (ABR), distortion product otoacoustic emission, and acoustic reflex testing. Imaging revealed no central cause of hearing impairment. Right-sided CI. Preoperative and postoperative audiometric data. Intraoperative ECoG. Preoperatively the patient underwent comprehensive audiologic testing with behavioral audiometry, ABR testing, and CI candidacy evaluation. In the right ear, the pure tone average (PTA) was 15 dB and word recognition score was 36%. ABR confirmed ANSD. Preoperative CNC and AzBio in quiet were 8% and 0%, respectively. Intraoperative ECoG amplitudes and audiometry showed responses in the 100 uV range and estimated PTA of 42 dB HL. Postoperative testing at 1-month post-initial activation revealed PTA of 45 dB HL and unchanged word and sentence scores. However, the patient cites an improved ability to communicate and increased confidence and averages over 14 hours of device use daily. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of CI in an ear with normal PTA. Given that nearly all presently available ECoG data comes from patients with greater degrees of hearing loss, this unique case adds to our understanding of hearing preservation in CI.

A Closer Look at Hearing Loss, Dementia, and Stigma

A Closer Look at Hearing Loss, Dementia, and Stigma

Hypakuze u pacientů s Fabryho chorobou

Introduction: Fabry disease (FD) is a rare hereditary lysosomal storage disease aff ecting diff erent organs, including the cochlea-vestibular system. It can lead to premature hearing loss and tinnitus. Early and correct dia gnosis of FD is important with a view of available therapy. Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the degree of hearing loss in patients with FD. Additionally, to compare diff erences between male and female patients as well as the diff erences of types of FD in patients with diff erent phenotypes. Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients that had been examined in our out-patient offi ce in the years 2016–2020. We used 7-tone pure-tone audiometry (0,125–8 kHz). We compared audiograms of patients right and left ear, calculated average Fowler percentage of hearing loss on left ear, right ear and combined. We compared combined Fowler percentage of hearing loss in diff erent types of FD based on the disease phenotype. Moreover, we compared the progress of hearing loss in time in patients that were examined in our offi ce more than once. Results: We examined 121 patients (55 male, 66 female) with dia gnosed FD. Female patients exhibited 48.5% hearing loss in the right ear and 50% in the left ear. Mixed hearing loss occurred in 1.5% of females in the group. We observed sensorineural hearing loss in 63.6% in the right ear and 65.5% in the left ear within male patients. Mixed hearing loss appeared in 1.8% of male patients. Combined mean Fowler percentage of hearing loss in females was 8.8 % and in males 14.8 %. Female patients with the classic type of FD had signifi cantly worse hearing than females with any other type of FD. This was not observed in the male group. Conclusion: Patients with FD in our group of patients had mostly sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing loss of male patients with FD was signifi cantly worse than females. Keywords: hearing loss – Fabry disease – phenotype – alpha-galactosidase – audiometry

Radiation dose to the cochlea and its association with sensorineural hearing loss in head and neck cancer-A prospective study

AimTo determine the effect of cochlear dose on sensorineural hearing loss in patients with head and neck cancer treated by radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy. Materials and methodA two-year longitudinal study was conducted on 130 subjects with various head and neck malignancies who were receiving radiotherapy or chemoradiation. 56 patients received only radiotherapy while 74 patients received concurrent chemoradiation five days a week at a dose of 66–70 Gy. They were categorized as having a radiation dose to the cochlea of <35 Gy, <45 Gy or >45 Gy. Pre- and post-therapy audiological evaluation was done using a Pure-tone audiogram, distortion product otoacoustic emission, and impedence. Hearing thresholds were measured at frequencies up to 16,000 Hz. ResultsOut of 130 patients 56 received RT alone and 74 received CTRT. There was statistically significant (p value <0.005) difference in Pure-tone audiometry assessment in both the RT and CTRT groups between subjects who received more than and <45 Gy of radiation to the cochlea. There was no significant difference in distortion product otoacoustic emission assessment between patients who received >45 Gy and <45 Gy radiation to the cochlea. Comparison between subjects who received radiation dose of <35 Gy and >45 Gy revealed significant results in the degree of hearing loss (p value <0.005). ConclusionWe observed that patients who received >45 Gy of radiation had more sensorineural hearing loss compared to patients who received <45 Gy. A cochlear dose of <35 Gy is associated with significantly lower hearing loss compared to higher doses. We would like to conclude by emphasizing the importance of regular audiological assessments prior to and post radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy, with regular follow-ups encouraged over a longer period to improve the quality of life in patients with head and neck malignancy.

Prevelance of Hearing Loss and Factors Association in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients.

Aim: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is becoming a great concern, especially in developing countries and SNHL among patients with CKD is considerably higher than general population. So, current study aims evaluation and assessment of degree of hearing loss in chronic kidney disease patients using pure tone audiogram and correlation of hearing loss with its contributing factors. Materials and methods:70 patients with CKD were included in this prospective observational cross sectional study performed in tertiary care hospital. A detailed history; general physical, otological examination, blood investigation was done.CKD staging was done using KDIGO guidelines and hearing assessment using pure tone audiometry. Hearing loss association with CKD and contributing factors were studied. Result: Out of 70 participants, SNHL was seen in twenty one participants. Hearing loss was present in 3 out of 22 participants of CKD-3; 6 out of 12 participants of CKD-4 and 12 out of 15 participants of stage CKD-5. A statistically significant association of hearing loss was found with CKD stage, albuminuria, hemodialysis, hypertension and other factors. Discussion: Since hearing impairment may well have a negative impact on the social function of an affected individual, the use of pure tone audiogram to monitor CKD patients should be considered as a routine procedure. Patients with CKD would benefit from early detection of hearing loss which will allow for early rehabilitative measures to be taken.

The Population Attributable Fraction of Dementia From Audiometric Hearing Loss Among a Nationally Representative Sample of Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

The population attributable fraction (PAF) of dementia from hearing loss (HL) in the United States is ~2% when incorporating self-reported HL measures. However, self-report might underestimate clinically significant audiometric HL among older adults. Here, we quantified PAFs of dementia from audiometric HL overall and by age, sex, and race/ethnicity groups among a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults in the United States. We used cross-sectional data from Round 11 (2021) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a prospective cohort study representing the U.S. Medicare population aged 65+ years (N = 2 470). We estimated model-adjusted PAFs of prevalent dementia by audiometric HL (pure-tone averages: normal hearing, <26 dB HL; mild HL, 26-40 dB HL; moderate or greater HL, ≥41 dB HL). Among eligible participants (34.8% aged ≥80 years; 55.3% female; 82.4% non-Hispanic White), 37.5% had mild, and 28.8% had moderate or greater HL. Dementia prevalence overall was 10.6%, with the PAF predominately driven by moderate or greater HL (PAF = 16.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.1-28.7%). The PAF from any degree of HL was larger but with a wider CI (PAF = 18.7%, 95% CI: -5.3% to 40.1%). There was evidence associations differed by sex but not age or race/ethnicity; moderate or greater HL exhibited stronger associations among males (PAF = 40.5%; 95% CI: 19.5% to 57.2%) than females (PAF = 3.2%; 95% CI: -12.7% to 17.9%). In a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults in the United States, 17% of dementia cases were attributable to moderate or greater audiometric HL, an estimate that is eightfold higher relative to studies relying on self-reported hearing measures only.

Hearing Status Among the Traffic Polices Of Dhaka Metrpolitan City

Background: Noise induced hearing loss is a common and avoidable occupational hazards in urban environments. People in high noise area suffer from hearing impairment. They are considered as social burden in their late life. Identifying risk groups and providing them a safe occupational environment is the responsibility of welfare state. Aims and Objectives: To compare hearing between noise exposed traffic police with polices not exposed to high noise. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Rajarbagh police line hospital from July 2015 to November 2016 where 180 police personnel were enrolled and divided into two groups for comparison with mean duration of work in police force 11.06 years in group-I and 10.48 years in group-II. Work hours of traffic police was 8 hours per day. Result: 37.7% of traffic police found to suffer from mild and 41.75% suffer from moderate degree of hearing loss that need attention of appropriate authority. Conclusion: Environmental pollution in Dhaka city is very high .High noise is a risk factors for occupational hazards that must be looked after by civil society and law enforcing agency to implement sound pollution act. J Dhaka Med Coll. 2022; 31(1) : 46-50

ASSESSMENT OF SENSORY-NEURAL HEARING LOSS IN PATIENTS WITH CONTROLLED V/S UNCONTROLLED DIABETES MELLITUS

Aim- To study the prevalence of Sensorineural Hearing Loss in patients with Diabetes Mellitus and to compare the degree and severity of hearing loss in patients with diabetes controlled on medications with uncontrolled disease Methodology- Prospective observational study was conducted to assess prevalence of sensory-neural hearing loss in patients with diabetes mellitus attending ENT OPD at GRMC Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India from December 2020 to May 2022. Auditory function was measured with Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) Among 280 patients with Diabetes mellitus, Results- 184 patients had Sensory-neural hearing loss (65.70%). As the disease duration increased above 10 years, incidence of SNHL increased to 88.4% in both ears. Sensorineural hearing loss is Conclusionprevalent in 65.71% of type II diabetic patients. Sensorineural hearing loss in diabetes mellitus is usually gradually progressive involving high frequency thresholds. Hearing threshold increases with advanced age and increased duration of diabetes. Patients with poor control [HbA1c greater than 8.5%] of their glycemic status had raised auditory thresholds.

Investigation of hearing aid users' speech understanding in noise and their spectral-temporal resolution skills

PurposeOur study aims to compare speech understanding in noise and spectral- temporal resolution skills with regard to the degree of hearing loss, age, hearing aid use experience and gender of hearing aid users. MethodsOur study included sixty-eight hearing aid users aged between 40-70 years, with bilateral mild and moderate symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss. Random gap detection test, Turkish matrix test and spectral-temporally modulated ripple test were implemented on the participants with bilateral hearing aids. The test results acquired were compared statistically according to different variables and the correlations were examined. ResultsNo statistically significant differences were observed for speech-in-noise recognition, spectral-temporal resolution among older and younger adults in hearing aid users (p>0.05). There wasn’t found a statistically significant difference among test outcomes as regards different hearing loss degrees (p>0.05). Higher performances were obtained in terms of temporal resolution in male participants and participants with more hearing aid use experience (p<0.05). Significant correlations were obtained between the results of speech-in-noise recognition, temporal resolution and spectral resolution tests performed with hearing aids (p<0.05). ConclusionOur study findings emphasized the importance of regular hearing aid use and it showed that some auditory skills can be improved with hearing aids. Observation of correlations among the speech-in-noise recognition, temporal resolution and spectral resolution tests have revealed that these skills should be evaluated as a whole to maximize the patient's communication abilities.

Hearing Loss Related to Gene Mutations in Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis

Introduction: Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) is a disease that may develop either primarily or secondarily, resulting from urinary acidification defects in distal tubules. Hearing loss may accompany primary forms of dRTA. This study aims to determine the characteristics of hearing loss due to different gene mutations in patients with dRTA. Methods: Behavioral and electrophysiological audiological evaluations were performed after otolaryngology examination in 21 patients with clinically diagnosed dRTA. Radiological imaging of the inner ear (n = 9) was conducted and results of genetic analyses using next-generation sequencing method (n = 16) were included. Results: Twenty-one patients with dRTA from 20 unrelated families, aged between 8 months and 33 years (median = 12, interquartile range = 20), participated. All patients with ATP6V1B1 mutations (n = 9) had different degrees of hearing loss. There was one patient with hearing loss in patients with ATP6V0A4 mutations (n = 6). One patient with the WDR72 mutation had normal hearing. Large vestibular aqueduct syndrome (LVAS) was detected in 6 (67%) of 9 patients whose radiological evaluation results were available. Conclusions: LVAS is common in patients with dRTA and may influence the type and severity of hearing loss in these patients. The possibility of both congenital and late-onset and progressive hearing loss should be considered in dRTA patients. A regular audiological follow-up is essential for the early detection of a possible late-onset or progressive hearing loss in these patients.

Characterization of the Intelligibility of Vowel–Consonant–Vowel (VCV) Recordings in Five Languages for Application in Speech-in-Noise Screening in Multilingual Settings

The purpose of this study is to characterize the intelligibility of a corpus of Vowel–Consonant–Vowel (VCV) stimuli recorded in five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Portuguese) in order to identify a subset of stimuli for screening individuals of unknown language during speech-in-noise tests. The intelligibility of VCV stimuli was estimated by combining the psychometric functions derived from the Short-Time Objective Intelligibility (STOI) measure with those derived from listening tests. To compensate for the potential increase in speech recognition effort in non-native listeners, stimuli were selected based on three criteria: (i) higher intelligibility; (ii) lower variability of intelligibility; and (iii) shallower psychometric function. The observed intelligibility estimates show that the three criteria for application in multilingual settings were fulfilled by the set of VCVs in English (average intelligibility from 1% to 8% higher; SRT from 4.01 to 2.04 dB SNR lower; average variability up to four times lower; slope from 0.35 to 0.68%/dB SNR lower). Further research is needed to characterize the intelligibility of these stimuli in a large sample of non-native listeners with varying degrees of hearing loss and to determine the possible effects of hearing loss and native language on VCV recognition.

First results of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, applied as a screening tool for psychosocial difficulties in pediatric audiology

PurposeDespite major improvements in rehabilitation possibilities, children with sensorineural hearing loss are at risk for psychosocial difficulties. These difficulties can impact their educational and career achievements and may be two to three times more common in children with hearing loss compared to those with normal hearing. Early identification of psychosocial difficulties can be facilitated using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and may improve outcomes and quality of life. We implemented the SDQ into the clinical follow-up of children with hearing loss in a tertiary referral hospital. With this, prevalence and severity of difficulties in specific psychosocial domains and several predictors were investigated.MethodsA retrospective, cross-sectional investigation was performed of the following factors in association with the SDQ results: type of hearing device, type and degree of hearing loss, speech perception in quiet and in noise, and type of schooling.ResultsBetween June 2020 and January 2022, parents of 312 children (age 4–18) completed the SDQ. An additional 113 child-reports were completed. The response rate of the parents was 69%. Problems with peer relationships and prosocial behavior were the most affected areas with clinically elevated scores in 22% of the children. Psychosocial difficulties were distributed similarly across types of hearing device, nature and degrees of hearing loss, and educational settings. Better speech perception in quiet was significantly associated with fewer parent-reported conduct problems.ConclusionThe results of the present study suggest that children with hearing loss may be at risk of experiencing challenges with social interactions and attachment in social contexts. Using the SDQ in clinical follow-up may improve the chances for early psychological assessment and intervention. In addition, the study found that children’s mental health may be impacted by their communication abilities.

Correlation of coagulation states with prognosis of sudden deafness.

Prognosis of sudden deafness remains a challenge in clinics because of inhomogeneity of the disease. Here we report our retrospective study aimed to explore the value of coagulative markers including activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), plasma fibrinogen (FIB), and plasma D-dimer in the prognosis of patients. The study included a total of 160 patients, of whom 92 had valid responses, 68 had invalid responses, and 68 had ineffective responses. APTT, PT, and the levels of FIB and D-dimer in serum were compared between the two groups, and their prognostic values were determined in terms of area under the curve (AUC) in receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis, sensitivity, and specificity. The correlations of APTT, PT, and FIB to degree of hearing loss were also assessed. Serum APTT and PT, FIB, and D-dimer levels were lower in patients with sudden deafness who responded poorly to treatments. ROC analysis showed that APTT, PT, FIB, and D-dimer had high AUC, sensitivity, and specificity for nonresponders, particularly when used in combination (AUC = 0.91, sensitivity = 86.76%, and specificity = 82.61%). Patients with a higher degree of hearing loss (>91 dB) also demonstrated significantly lower values of APTT and PT and higher levels of serum FIB and D-dimer than those with a lower degree of hearing loss. Our study demonstrated that APTT, PT, and serum levels of FIB and D-dimer could serve as strong predictors of sudden deafness, potentiating the use of these tests to identify patients who respond poorly to treatments.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our retrospective study indicated that lower serum APTT and PT levels and higher fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer levels are characteristics associated with poor treatment responses among patients with sudden deafness. A combination of these levels had a high accuracy in identifying the nonresponders. APTT, PT, and serum levels of FIB and D-dimer could serve as strong predictors of sudden deafness, potentiating the use of these tests to identify patients who respond poorly to treatments.