Demographic Disparities in Drive Times to the Nearest Audiologist in the United States.

Purpose: Audiological services are underused, possibly because patients need to drive long distances to see a provider. In this study, we measured the association of drive times to the nearest audiologist with population density, income, ethnicity, race, and distance to the nearest audiology graduate program.

Method: Drive times for each census block group to the nearest audiologist were measured using census data, the National Provider Identifier Registry, and a geographic analyzing tool called ArcGIS for all block groups within the United States.

Student Perceptions of Learning Clinical Masking in Audiology: An Exploratory Survey Study.

Purpose: The audiology literature is rich with work in the area of clinical masking, yet there is a perception that learning how to mask is difficult. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of audiology doctoral students and recent graduates in learning clinical masking.

Method: This exploratory study used a cross-sectional survey design, sampling doctor of audiology (AuD) students and recent graduates to probe the perceived effort required and challenges experienced in learning clinical masking.

Development of the Teaching Interpersonal Skills for Telehealth Checklist.

While interpersonal skills in telehealth may positively impact clinical practice, patient engagement and outcomes, assessment strategies are lacking. We conducted a multi-stage iterative approach to develop and test validity and reliability of the Teaching Interpersonal Skills in Telehealth checklist (TIPS-TC). First, we identified observable communication behaviors from the literature.

Detailed Analysis of High Frequency Auditory Brainstem Response in Patients with Tinnitus: A Preliminary Study.

Increased spontaneous activity and aberrant neural synchrony is thought to be the underlying cause of tinnitus. The perceived pitch of tinnitus may be dictated by frequency specific neural fibers of the subcortical pathway, or the projection of altered cortical activity by-way-of tonotopic reorganizations. Subcortical neural activity in relation to tinnitus was characterized using ABR measurements.