Manual switching between programs intended for specific real-life listening environments by adult cochlear implant users: do they use the intended program?

Objective: The aim of the current study was to investigate the use of manually and automatically switching programs in everyday day life by adult cochlear implant (CI) users.

Design: Participants were fitted with an automatically switching sound processor setting and 2 manual programs for 3-week study periods. They received an extensive counselling session.

Binaural Recordings in Natural Acoustic Environments: Estimates of Speech-Likeness and Interaural Parameters.

Binaural acoustic recordings were made in multiple natural environments, which were chosen to be similar to those reported to be difficult for listeners with impaired hearing. These environments include natural conversations that take place in the presence of other sound sources as found in restaurants, walking or biking in the city, and so on. Sounds from these environments were recorded binaurally with in-the-ear microphones and were analyzed with respect to speech-likeness measures and interaural difference measures.

Operationalization of the Brief ICF Core Set for Hearing Loss: An ICF-Based e-Intake Tool in Clinical Otology and Audiology Practice.

Objectives: According to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), functioning reflects the interplay between an individual's body structures and functions, activities, participation, environmental, and personal factors. To be useful in clinical practice, these concepts need to be operationalized into a practical and integral instrument. The Brief ICF Core Set for Hearing Loss (CSHL) provides a minimum standard for the assessment of functioning in adults with hearing loss.

Developing an intervention to implement an ICF-based e-intake tool in clinical otology and audiology practice.

To develop an intervention for the implementation of an ICF-based e-intake tool in clinical oto-audiology practice. Intervention design study using the eight-stepped Behaviour Change Wheel. Hearing health professionals' (HHPs) and patients' barriers to and enablers of the use of the tool were identified in our previous study (steps 1-4).

Relationship Between Speech Recognition in Quiet and Noise and Fitting Parameters, Impedances and ECAP Thresholds in Adult Cochlear Implant Users.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify parameters which are related to speech recognition in quiet and in noise of cochlear implant (CI) users. These parameters may be important to improve current fitting practices.

Design: Adult CI users who visited the Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, for their annual follow-up between January 2015 and December 2017 were retrospectively identified.

Effect of Audibility and Suprathreshold Deficits on Speech Recognition for Listeners With Unilateral Hearing Loss.

Objectives: We examined the influence of impaired processing (audibility and suprathreshold processes) on speech recognition in cases of sensorineural hearing loss. The influence of differences in central, or top-down, processing was reduced by comparing the performance of both ears in participants with a unilateral hearing loss (UHL). We examined the influence of reduced audibility and suprathreshold deficits on speech recognition in quiet and in noise.

Effect of cochlear implant n-of-m strategy on signal-to-noise ratio below which noise hinders speech recognition.

Speech recognition was measured in 24 normal-hearing subjects for unprocessed speech and for speech processed by a cochlear implant Advanced Combination Encoder (ACE) coding strategy in quiet and at various signal-to noise ratios (SNRs). All signals were low- or high-pass filtered to avoid ceiling effects. Surprisingly, speech recognition performance plateaus at approximately 22 dB SNR for both speech types, implying that ACE processing has no effect on the upper limit of the effective SNR range.

The etiological evaluation of sensorineural hearing loss in children.

This study aims to evaluate the etiology of pediatric sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). A total of 423 children with SNHL were evaluated, with the focus on the determination of causative genetic and acquired etiologies of uni- and bilateral SNHL in relation to age at diagnosis and severity of the hearing loss. We found that a stepwise diagnostic approach comprising of imaging, genetic, and/or pediatric evaluation identified a cause for SNHL in 67% of the children.

Barriers to and enablers of the implementation of an ICF-based intake tool in clinical otology and audiology practice-A qualitative pre-implementation study.

The authors are developing an intake tool based on the Brief International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health Core Set for Hearing Loss, by operationalizing its categories into a Patient Reported Outcome Measure. This study was aimed at identifying enablers and barriers to using this tool as perceived by hearing health professionals (HHPs) and patients. Focus groups and interviews were held with HHPs (ENT surgeons, N = 14; audiologists, N = 8) and patients (N = 18).

Evaluation of the outcome of CT and MR imaging in pediatric patients with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: To evaluate the clinically relevant abnormalities as visualized on CT and MR imaging in children with symmetric and asymmetric bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), in relation to age and the severity of hearing loss.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary referral otology and audiology center.

Speech Recognition Abilities in Normal-Hearing Children 4 to 12 Years of Age in Stationary and Interrupted Noise.

Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to examine developmental effects for speech recognition in noise abilities for normal-hearing children in several listening conditions, relevant for daily life. Our aim was to study the auditory component in these listening abilities by using a test that was designed to minimize the dependency on nonauditory factors, the digits-in-noise (DIN) test. Secondary aims were to examine the feasibility of the DIN test for children, and to establish age-dependent normative data for diotic and dichotic listening conditions in both stationary and interrupted noise.

The Effectiveness of a Vocational Enablement Protocol for Employees With Hearing Difficulties: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a vocational enablement protocol (VEP) on need for recovery (NFR) after work as compared with usual care for employees with hearing difficulties. In a randomized controlled trial design, 136 employees with hearing impairment were randomly assigned to either the VEP or the control group. VEP is a multidisciplinary program integrating audiological and occupational care for individuals experiencing difficulties in the workplace due to hearing loss.

Lexical-Access Ability and Cognitive Predictors of Speech Recognition in Noise in Adult Cochlear Implant Users.

Not all of the variance in speech-recognition performance of cochlear implant (CI) users can be explained by biographic and auditory factors. In normal-hearing listeners, linguistic and cognitive factors determine most of speech-in-noise performance. The current study explored specifically the influence of visually measured lexical-access ability compared with other cognitive factors on speech recognition of 24 postlingually deafened CI users.

Is there evidence for the added value and correct use of manual and automatically switching multimemory hearing devices? A scoping review.

Objectives: To review literature on the use of manual and automatically switching multimemory devices by hearing aid and CI recipients, and to investigate if recipients appreciate and adequately use the ability to switch between programmes in various listening environments.

Design: Literature was searched using PubMed, Embase and ISI/Web of Science. Additional studies were identified by screening reference and citation lists, and by contacting experts.

Morphosyntactic correctness of written language production in adults with moderate to severe congenital hearing loss.

Objective: To examine whether moderate to severe congenital hearing loss (MSCHL) leads to persistent morphosyntactic problems in the written language production of adults, as it does in their spoken language production.

Design: Samples of written language in Dutch were analysed for morphosyntactic correctness and syntactic complexity.

Study Sample: 20 adults with MSCHL and 10 adults with normal hearing (NH).

High prevalence of abnormalities on CT and MR imaging in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss irrespective of age or degree of hearing loss.

Objective: Evaluation of causal abnormalities identified on CT and MR imaging in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL), and the association with age and severity of hearing loss.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary referral otology/audiology center.

The Development of Remote Speech Recognition Tests for Adult Cochlear Implant Users: The Effect of Presentation Mode of the Noise and a Reliable Method to Deliver Sound in Home Environments.

The number of cochlear implant (CI) users is increasing annually, resulting in an increase in the workload of implant centers in ongoing patient management and evaluation. Remote testing of speech recognition could be time-saving for both the implant centers as well as the patient. This study addresses two methodological challenges we encountered in the development of a remote speech recognition tool for adult CI users.

Overlap and Nonoverlap Between the ICF Core Sets for Hearing Loss and Otology and Audiology Intake Documentation.

Objectives: The International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for Hearing Loss (HL) were developed to serve as a standard for the assessment and reporting of the functioning and health of patients with HL. The aim of the present study was to compare the content of the intake documentation currently used in secondary and tertiary hearing care settings in the Netherlands with the content of the ICF Core Sets for HL. Research questions were (1) to what extent are the ICF Core Sets for HL represented in the Dutch Otology and Audiology intake documentation? (2) are there any extra ICF categories expressed in the intake documentation that are currently not part of the ICF Core Sets for HL, or constructs expressed that are not part of the ICF?

Design: Multicenter patient record study including 176 adult patients from two secondary, and two tertiary hearing care settings.

[Working with hearing impairment: an integrated approach].

Patients with hearing impairment are more likely to encounter health problems and difficulties at work than their colleagues with normal hearing. This is often not realised by either patients or professionals. In this article we describe three cases that illustrate how working conditions can influence the health of workers with hearing loss.

The Influence of Linguistic Proficiency on Masked Text Recognition Performance in Adults With and Without Congenital Hearing Impairment.

Objective: The authors first examined the influence of moderate to severe congenital hearing impairment (CHI) on the correctness of samples of elicited spoken language. Then, the authors used this measure as an indicator of linguistic proficiency and examined its effect on performance in language reception, independent of bottom-up auditory processing.

Design: In groups of adults with normal hearing (NH, n = 22), acquired hearing impairment (AHI, n = 22), and moderate to severe CHI (n = 21), the authors assessed linguistic proficiency by analyzing the morphosyntactic correctness of their spoken language production.

A comparison between the Dutch and American-English digits-in-noise (DIN) tests in normal-hearing listeners.

Objective: The Dutch digits-in-noise test (NL DIN) and the American-English version (US DIN) are speech-in-noise tests for diagnostic and clinical usage. The present study investigated differences between NL DIN and US DIN speech reception thresholds (SRTs) for a group of native Dutch-speaking listeners.

Design: In experiment 1, a repeated-measures design was used to compare SRTs for the NL DIN and US DIN in steady-state noise and interrupted noise for monaural, diotic, and dichotic listening conditions.

The influence of lexical-access ability and vocabulary knowledge on measures of speech recognition in noise.

Objective: The main objective was to investigate the effect of linguistic abilities (lexical-access ability and vocabulary size) on different measures of speech-in-noise recognition in normal-hearing listeners with various levels of language proficiency.

Design: Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured for sentences in steady-state (SRTstat) and fluctuating noise (SRTfluc), and for digit-triplets in steady-state noise (DIN). Lexical-access ability was measured with a lexical-decision test and a word-naming test.

A process evaluation of implementing a vocational enablement protocol for employees with hearing difficulties in clinical practice.

Objective: A multidisciplinary vocational rehabilitation programme, the Vocational Enablement Protocol (VEP) was developed to address the specific needs of employees with hearing difficulties. In the current study we evaluated the process of implementing the VEP in audiologic care among employees with hearing impairment.

Design: In conjunction with a randomized controlled trial, we collected and analysed data on seven process parameters: recruitment, reach, fidelity, dose delivered, dose received and implemented, satisfaction, and perceived benefit.

The addition of a contralateral microphone for unilateral cochlear implant users: not an alternative for bilateral cochlear implantation.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether unilateral cochlear implant (CI) users benefit from the addition of a contralateral microphone (CI-CROS) for spatial speech recognition.

Setting: Tertiary referral otology and cochlear implant center.

Methods: The digits-in-noise test was used to measure speech in noise recognition abilities.