Validation of the Singing Voice Handicap Index in Greek Singers: Normal and Voice-Disordered Participants.

Objectives: The Singing Voice Handicap Index (SVHI) was culturally adapted and validated in Greek to examine the impacts of voice problems on a singer's everyday life.

Methods: The translated version was administered to 120 singers in total, along with the translated version of the Voice Handicap Index (VHI), a sort voice history questionnaire, two Self-Rating Dysphonia Severity Scales (SRDSSs), and two visual analog scales. A week after the original completion of the Greek version of SVHI, a second copy of the SVHI was administered to 50% of the participants.

Exposure to Noise or Music in Clinical Trials: A Scoping Review on Ethical and Methodological Considerations.

Background: Use of noise or music in experimental human studies requires balancing the need to avoid subjecting participants to potentially harmful noise levels while still reaching levels that will produce a measurable change in the primary outcome. Several methodological and ethical aspects must be considered. This study aims to summarize ethical and methodological aspects, and reported outcomes, of previously published experimental paradigms using loud noise/music.

Randomised Controlled Trial for the Evaluation of the Efficacy of the IDA's "Living Well" Online Counselling Tool in First-Time Adult Users with Hearing Loss.

Effective management of hearing loss through the use of modern hearing aids significantly improves communication and the quality of life for individuals experiencing auditory impairment. Complementary counselling of patients with hearing loss who will be fitted with hearing aids for the first time should be evidence-based and adapted to their individual needs. To date, several counselling protocols and tools have been developed.

Serum Prestin Level May Increase Following Music Exposure That Induces Temporary Threshold Shifts: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: To determine if blood prestin level changes after exposure to music at high sound pressure levels, and if this change is associated with temporary threshold shift (TTS) and/or changes in distortion product (DP) amplitude.

Design: Participants were exposed to pop-rock music at 100 dBA for 15 min monaurally through headphones. Pure-tone audiometry, DP amplitude, and blood prestin level were measured before and after exposure.

The supine moving apprehension test-Reliability and validity among healthy individuals and patients with anterior shoulder instability.

Background: Performance-based tests for patients with anterior shoulder dislocation are lacking. This study determined the reliability and validity of the supine moving apprehension test designed to assess the ability to control anterior instability loads.

Methods: Thirty-six participants were recruited (18 healthy individuals, and 18 patients following anterior shoulder dislocation).

A phase I/IIa safety and efficacy trial of intratympanic gamma-secretase inhibitor as a regenerative drug treatment for sensorineural hearing loss.

Inhibition of Notch signalling with a gamma-secretase inhibitor (GSI) induces mammalian hair cell regeneration and partial hearing restoration. In this proof-of-concept Phase I/IIa multiple-ascending dose open-label trial (ISRCTN59733689), adults with mild-moderate sensorineural hearing loss received 3 intratympanic injections of GSI LY3056480, in 1 ear over 2 weeks. Phase I primary outcome was safety and tolerability.

Development and Validation of an Efficient and Safe Loud Music Exposure Paradigm.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a time-efficient music exposure and testing paradigm that safely creates temporary cochlear dysfunction that could be used in future temporary threshold shift (TTS) studies.

Method: A 30-min audio compilation of pop rock music tracks was created. Adult volunteers with normal hearing were then exposed to this music material monaurally through headphones for 30 min at 97 dBA or 15 min at 100 dBA.

Head mounted display effect on vestibular rehabilitation exercises performance.

Objectives: Vestibular rehabilitation clinical guidelines document the additional benefit offered by the Mixed Reality environments in the reduction of symptoms and the improvement of balance in peripheral vestibular hypofunction. The HOLOBalance platform offers vestibular rehabilitation exercises, in an Augmented Reality (AR) environment, projecting them using a low- cost Head Mounted Display. The effect of the AR equipment on the performance in three of the commonest vestibular rehabilitation exercises is investigated in this pilot study.

Vocal Health Knowledge Status and Attitudes of Professional and Amateur Performing Artists in Greece.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the vocal health literacy level and attitudes of professional and amateur performing artists in Greece and identify possible gaps and limitations that should be addressed in the future.

Methods: This mixed-methods study took place in two successive stages. The first stage involved 4 focus groups with professional and amateur actors and singers.

Recommendations for physical activity in the elderly population: A scoping review of guidelines.

Physical inactivity and sedentary time are associated with all-cause mortality, chronic non-communicable diseases and falls in the elderly. Objective of this review is to assess and summarize recommendations from clinical guidelines for physical activity (PA) of older adults in general and related to falls. A scoping review of the existing clinical guidelines was conducted.

EHealth and Its Role in Supporting Audiological Rehabilitation: Patient Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators of Using a Personal Hearing Support System With Mobile Application as Part of the EVOTION Study.

Background: Hearing loss is a major public health challenge. Audiology services need to utilise a range of rehabilitative services and maximise innovative practice afforded by technology to actively promote personalized, participatory, preventative and predictive care if they are to cope with the social and economic burden placed on the population by the rapidly rising prevalence of hearing loss. Digital interventions and teleaudiology could be a key part of providing high quality, cost-effective, patient-centred management.

Exploring the Acceptability and Feasibility of Providing a Balance Tele-Rehabilitation Programme to Older Adults at Risk for Falls: An Initial Assessment.

Falls are a major health concern. The HOLOBALANCE tele-rehabilitation system was developed to deliver an evidence based, multi-sensory balance rehabilitation programme, to the elderly at risk of falls. The system delivers a series of balance physiotherapy exercises and cognitive and auditory training tasks prescribed by an expert balance physiotherapist following an initial balance assessment.

Systematic review of sound stimulation to elicit tinnitus residual inhibition.

Background: Residual Inhibition is considered as tinnitus alteration immediately after exposure to sound. Its clinical significance and correlation with the pathophysiology and treatment prognosis of tinnitus remain enigmatic. The objective of this review is to critically appraise scientific evidence regarding the residual inhibition prevalence and how it is correlated with different sound stimuli.

Blood Prestin Levels in Normal Hearing and in Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review.

Objectives: Recently, it has been hypothesized that blood prestin concentration levels may reflect cochlear damage and thus serve as an easily measurable, early sensorineural hearing loss (HL) biomarker. This is a scoping review aiming to identify and critically appraise current evidence on prestin blood levels and their temporal variation in rodents and humans with normal hearing and with sensorineural HL.

Design: This study was designed and held according to PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines.

Rehearsal Sound Exposure and Choir Singers' Hearing: A Pilot Field Study.

Unlabelled: Exposure to high- and moderate-intensity sound is inevitable for professional singers during their working day, the majority of which is spent in rehearsal, preparing for a performance. The impact of self-produced sound exposure on singers' hearing within the rehearsal setting has not been examined.

Objectives: This original pilot field study investigates the feasibility of data collection and hypothesis testing of singers' hearing within the rehearsal environment.

Towards a unification of treatments and interventions for tinnitus patients: The EU research and innovation action UNITI.

Tinnitus is the perception of a phantom sound and the patient's reaction to it. Although much progress has been made, tinnitus remains a scientific and clinical enigma of high prevalence and high economic burden, with an estimated prevalence of 10%-20% among the adult population. The EU is funding a new collaborative project entitled "Unification of Treatments and Interventions for Tinnitus Patients" (UNITI, grant no.

Audiological findings in professionals exposed to music and their relation with tinnitus.

Professional musicians are at high risk of developing tinnitus due to their over-exposure to music at both occupational and recreational level. This is a 5-year long prospective case series study performed in the Musicians/Performing Arts Medicine Clinic of the 1st Otorhinolaryngology Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. A total of 274 professional musicians underwent thorough medical history, history of music exposure, assessment of the impact their hearing status has on their professional life (Musicians Hearing Handicap Index), behavioral (Pure Tone Audiometry, standard and extended high frequency) and objective audiometric tests (TEOAE and DPOAE).

Musicians' Hearing Handicap Index: A New Questionnaire to Assess the Impact of Hearing Impairment in Musicians and Other Music Professionals.

Purpose We aimed to develop and validate the Musicians' Hearing Handicap Index (MHHI), a new self-evaluation tool for quantifying occupation-related auditory difficulties in music professionals. Although pure-tone audiometry is often considered the "gold standard" and is usually employed as the main instrument for hearing assessment, it cannot fully describe the impact of hearing dysfunction. The MHHI is an attempt to complement the hearing impairment assessment toolbox and is based on a unique approach to quantify the effects of hearing-related symptoms or hearing loss on the performance of musicians and other music industry professionals.

A Dynamic Bayesian Network Approach to Behavioral Modelling of Elderly People during a Home-based Augmented Reality Balance Physiotherapy Programme.

In this study, we propose a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN)-based approach to behavioral modelling of community dwelling older adults at risk for falls during the daily sessions of a hologram-enabled vestibular rehabilitation therapy programme. The component of human behavior being modelled is the level of frustration experienced by the user at each exercise, as it is assessed by the NASA Task Load Index. Herein, we present the topology of the DBN and test its inference performance on real-patient data.

Tinnitus healthcare: a survey revealing extensive variation in opinion and practices across Europe.

Unlabelled: Tinnitus remains a scientific and clinical problem whereby, in spite of increasing knowledge on effective treatment and management for tinnitus, very little impact on clinical practice has been observed. There is evidence that prolonged, obscure and indirect referral trajectories persist in usual tinnitus care.

Objective: It is widely acknowledged that efforts to change professional practice are more successful if barriers are identified and implementation activities are systematically tailored to the specific determinants of practice.

Clinical validation of a public health policy-making platform for hearing loss (EVOTION): protocol for a big data study.

Introduction: The holistic management of hearing loss (HL) requires an understanding of factors that predict hearing aid (HA) use and benefit beyond the acoustics of listening environments. Although several predictors have been identified, no study has explored the role of audiological, cognitive, behavioural and physiological data nor has any study collected real-time HA data. This study will collect 'big data', including retrospective HA logging data, prospective clinical data and real-time data via smart HAs, a mobile application and biosensors.

Translation and validation of the dizziness handicap inventory in Greek language.

Objective: The aim of the study was to test the reliability and validity of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory in the Greek language (DHI).

Design: This study was performed in a university tertiary centre. Internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach's alpha for the DHI, physical (DHI-P), functional (DHI-F) and emotional (DHI-E) subscale scores.

Mining balance disorders' data for the development of diagnostic decision support systems.

In this work we present the methodology for the development of the EMBalance diagnostic Decision Support System (DSS) for balance disorders. Medical data from patients with balance disorders have been analysed using data mining techniques for the development of the diagnostic DSS. The proposed methodology uses various data, ranging from demographic characteristics to clinical examination, auditory and vestibular tests, in order to provide an accurate diagnosis.

EMBalance - validation of a decision support system in the early diagnostic evaluation and management plan formulation of balance disorders in primary care: study protocol of a feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Background: Balance problems are caused by multiple factors and often lead to falls and related fractures, bringing large socio-economic costs. The complexity of balance control mechanisms, the lack of medical expertise, and the absence of specialised equipment contribute to the delayed or incorrect diagnosis and management ofthese patients. Advances in computer science have allowed the development of computer systems that support clinical diagnosis and treatment decisions based on individualised patient data.