Language Intervention Instead of Speech Intervention for Children With Cochlear Implants.

Cochlear implants are a standard rehabilitation option for children with severe hearing loss or deafness, allowing access to speech sounds necessary for the development of spoken language. However, the speech-language outcomes of pediatric cochlear implant users vary widely and are not directly or exclusively linked to technology but to combinations of individual audiological, personal, technical, and habilitational factors. These combinations may not favor spoken language development, which may further be linked to the issue of prior insistence on spoken language learning and associated with a high risk of language deprivation.

Self-Assessment of Vocal Fatigue in Muscle Tension Dysphonia and Vocal Nodules: A Preliminary Analysis of the Discriminatory Potential of the Croatian Adaptation of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI-C).

In this paper the authors hypothesize that the intensity of subjective experience of vocal fatigue (VF) potentially reflects primary (hyper) functional vocal disorders (primary muscle tension dysphonia - MTD) differently than structural vocal disorders of functional etiology (MTD type 2a). Given the reported benefit of self-evaluation in the quantification of VF, the goal of this study was to test the potential of the Croatian adaptation of the Vocal Fatigue Index questionnaire (VFI-C) in order to show different VF intensities for the two above-mentioned diagnoses of vocal disorders. In total, 69 vocal nonprofessionals of both sexes (average age 41.

Validation of self-reported hearing loss among adult Croatians: the performance of the Hearing Self-Assessment Questionnaire against audiometric evaluation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to validate the performance of a self-assessment hearing loss screening tool for adults against audiometric evaluation. Different audiological measurements were compared with the results of a 10-item Likert-type questionnaire named the Hearing Self-Assessment Questionnaire (HSAQ) to investigate its psychometric characteristics.

Design: Participants underwent audiological evaluation and completed the HSAQ.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Voice Handicap Index into Croatian.

This article presents preliminary results of cultural adaptation and validation of the Croatian version of Voice Handicap Index (VHI). The translated version was completed by 38 subjects with voice disorders and 30 subjects without voice complaints. Compared with the subjects in the control group, subjects with voice disorders had significantly higher average total VHI score and scores in each of the three VHI domains (functional, physical, and emotional).