No Reliable Association Between Recreational Noise Exposure and Threshold Sensitivity, Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission Amplitude, or Word-in-Noise Performance in a College Student Population.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between recreational sound exposure and potentially undiagnosed or subclinical hearing loss by assessing sound exposure history, threshold sensitivity, distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) amplitudes, and performance on the words-in-noise (WIN) test.

Design: Survey data were collected from 74 adult participants (14 male and 60 female), 18 to 27 years of age, recruited via advertisements posted throughout the University of Florida campus. Of these participants, 70 completed both the survey and the additional functional test battery, and their preferred listening level was measured in a laboratory setting.

Bimodal Programming: A Survey of Current Clinical Practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the current clinical practice in approaches to bimodal programming in the United States. To be specific, if clinicians are recommending bimodal stimulation, who programs the hearing aid in the bimodal condition, and what method is used for programming the hearing aid?

Method: An 11-question online survey was created and sent via email to a comprehensive list of cochlear implant programming centers in the United States. The survey was sent to 360 recipients.

Speech based optimization of cochlear implants.

Objective: This study describes an innovative method to optimize cochlear implant (CI) devices for individual patients using speech stimuli.

Design: Baseline performance of clinically created CI settings was evaluated objectively (CNC and BKB-SIN) and subjectively (listening situation questionnaire). Participants underwent the Clarujust optimization procedure during two sessions, each two weeks apart, allowing for acclimatization and experience with each group of programs.