The Relationship Between Transfusion in Cardiac Surgery Patients and Adverse Outcomes.

Objectives: To understand if red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are independently associated with a risk of mortality, prolonged intubation, or infectious, cardiac, or renal morbid outcomes.

Design: A retrospective review.

Setting: A single-institution university hospital.

Audiological approaches to address the psychosocial needs of adults with hearing loss: perceived benefit and likelihood of use.

Objective: To explore the perceived benefit and likely implementation of approaches used by audiologists to address their adult clients' psychosocial needs related to hearing loss.

Design: Adults with hearing loss and audiologists completed separate, but related, surveys to rate their perceived benefit and also their likely use of 66 clinical approaches (divided over seven themes) that aim to address psychosocial needs related to hearing loss.

Study Sample: A sample of 52 Australian adults with hearing loss, and an international sample of 19 audiologists.

The Development of an Internet-Based Decision Coaching Guide to Encourage Audiology Care: The Results of a Participatory Design Approach.

Purpose The purpose of the research described here is to create a theoretically based, interactive online program to motivate adults with untreated hearing loss to seek audiology care. We describe the results of the participatory design (PD) approach used to increase uptake and adherence to the Internet-based program. Method Using information gathered from field experts ( = 7), a program outline was generated by the study team.

Identifying the approaches used by audiologists to address the psychosocial needs of their adult clients.

Objective: To identify the approaches taken by audiologists to address their adult clients' psychosocial needs related to hearing loss.

Design: A participatory mixed methods design. Participants generated statements describing the ways in which the psychosocial needs of their adult clients with hearing loss are addressed, and then grouped the statements into themes.

Introduction for the 4th International Meeting on Internet and Audiology Special Issue of the .

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Adult Children's Perspectives on Their Role in Their Parent's Hearing Healthcare Processes.

Background: Communication partners play an important role in the hearing healthcare (HHC) process of the person with hearing impairment (HI). However, present research focuses mainly on the role of the spouse; the role of the adult child is often overlooked or understated.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to describe the role of the adult child in the HHC process of a parent with HI.

Internet and Audiology: A Review of the Third International Meeting.

Purpose: In this introduction, the four members of the scientific committee for the Third International Meeting on Internet and Audiology describe the meeting that took place at the University of Louisville on July 27-28, 2017.

Method: This special issue, with a decidedly clinical focus, includes 14 articles that arose from presentations given at the Third International Meeting on Internet and Audiology. All touch upon the theme of innovation as it pertains to teleaudiology and mobile health (mHealth), application of Big Data to audiology, and ethics of internet and telemedicine.

Design Considerations for Internet-Delivered Self-Management Programs for Adults With Hearing Impairment.

Purpose: Hearing impairment (HI) is a chronic condition; thus, even with treatment, residual participation restrictions and activity limitations typically remain. Individuals must learn to self-manage their HI. The purpose of this research note is to review components of successful Internet-based self-management programs and to evaluate group auditory rehabilitation (AR) programs with varying content, in order to make recommendations for the design of future Internet-based self-management programs.

Internet and Audiology: A Review of the Second International Meeting.

Purpose: This article describes the Second International Meeting on Internet and Audiology, which took place at the Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, Denmark September 24 to 25, 2015, and introduces the research forum arising from the meeting.

Method: The potential gains of the Internet within audiology are framed within the central role of quality connections among people, ideas, and objects. First, the meeting is summarized.

Acceptance of internet-based hearing healthcare among adults who fail a hearing screening.

Objective: This study measured help-seeking readiness and acceptance of existing internet-based hearing healthcare (IHHC) websites among a group of older adults who failed a hearing screening (Phase 1). It also explored the effects of brief training on participants' acceptance of IHHC (Phase 2).

Study Sample: Twenty-seven adults (age 55+) who failed a hearing screening participated.

The Effect of Chronological Age on the Acceptance of Internet-Based Hearing Health Care.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to offer design considerations in developing Internet-based hearing health care for older adults by analyzing and discussing the relationship between chronological age, computer skills, and the acceptance of Internet-based hearing health care.

Method: This article reports baseline data from a training study measuring the acceptance of Internet-based hearing health care. Participants (n = 26; 20 men, 6 women) were aged 55–95 years.

Internet and Audiology: A Review of the First International Meeting.

Purpose: The purpose of this research forum article is to describe the impetus for holding the First International Meeting on Internet and Audiology (October 2014) and to introduce the special research forum that arose from the meeting.

Method: The rationale for the First International Meeting on Internet and Audiology is described. This is followed by a short description of the research sections and articles appearing in the special issue.

Adult-children's perspectives on a parent's hearing impairment and its impact on their relationship and communication.

Objective: The aim of the study was to describe third-party disability experienced by adult-children as a result of hearing impairment (HI) in a parent.

Design: Using semi-structured interviews, participants were asked to describe the impact of a parent's HI on their relationship and communication. Interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative method to explore participant's perceptions and viewpoints, was used as the method of analysis.

Safety and Efficacy of Apical Resection Following Growth-friendly Instrumentation in Myelomeningocele Patients With Gibbus: Growing Rod Versus Luque Trolley.

Introduction: Thoracolumbar/lumbar kyphosis in myelomeningocele patients is a common and severely debilitating condition, amenable only to surgical correction. Several surgical techniques have been proposed. Growth-friendly techniques should be preferred in this patient population due to an already compromised trunk height.

Perceptions of adults with hearing impairment regarding the promotion of trust in hearing healthcare service delivery.

Objective: This paper describes how trust is promoted in adults with hearing impairment within the context of hearing healthcare (HHC) service delivery.

Design: Data were analysed from a previously published descriptive qualitative study that explored perspectives of adults with hearing impairment on hearing help-seeking and rehabilitation.

Study Sample: Interview transcripts from 29 adults from four countries with different levels of hearing impairment and different experience with the HHC system were analysed thematically.

Perceptions of age and brain in relation to hearing help-seeking and rehabilitation.

Objectives: This study used a qualitative approach to explore the perspectives of adults with hearing impairment on hearing help-seeking and rehabilitation. Two superordinate themes, Age and Brain, emerged from prior analyses and are investigated in the present article.

Design: In-depth semistructured interviews were completed in four countries with 34 adults (aged 26 to 96 years) with hearing impairment.

A new web-based tool for group audiologic rehabilitation.

Purpose: The Group Rehabilitation Online Utility Pack (GROUP) was developed to encourage hearing health care professionals to offer group audiologic rehabilitation (GAR) as an integral part of adult hearing rehabilitation and to provide these professionals with the necessary tools to develop and offer GAR in their clinical practice.

Method: The GROUP is a dynamic interactive web-based program that allows visitors to craft and create GAR for their professional use. The tool includes the evidence for implementing GAR, content for preparation and planning, instruction for facilitating groups, and actual GAR activities.

Standardized patients in audiology: a proposal for a new method of evaluating clinical competence.

Background: While accrediting organizations require AuD programs to provide evidence that their students are able to demonstrate knowledge and competencies in specific content areas, there are no generally accepted mechanisms for the assessment and the measurement of these proficiencies. We propose that AuD programs consider developing standardized patient (SP) cases in order to develop consistent summative assessment programs within and across universities.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for establishing SP programs to evaluate competencies in AuD students by detailing the history of SP cases and their use, developing a rationale for this method of assessment, and outlining the steps for writing and implementing SP cases.

The effect of LACE DVD training in new and experienced hearing aid users.

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated that improving the ability to understand speech in noise can be a difficult task for adults with hearing aids (HAs). If HA users want to improve their speech understanding ability, specific training may be needed. Auditory training (AT) is one type of intervention that may enhance speech recognition abilities for adult HA users.

The Hearing Impairment Impact-Significant Other Profile (HII-SOP): a tool to measure hearing loss-related quality of life in spouses of people with hearing loss.

Background: Third-party hearing loss-related quality of life (HLQoL) reports measure the third-party disability as a result of communicating regularly with someone with hearing loss. Scales with known psychometric characteristics validated on a diverse subject population are needed in order to describe the activity limitations and participation restrictions experienced by spouses as a result of living with an individual with hearing loss.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to develop a scale to measure third-party HLQoL in spouses of people with hearing loss with acceptable psychometric characteristics.

Hearing help-seeking and rehabilitation: perspectives of adults with hearing impairment.

Objective: This study investigated the perspectives of adults with hearing impairment on hearing help-seeking and rehabilitation.

Design: Individual semi-structured interviews were completed.

Study Sample: In total, 34 adults with hearing impairment in four countries (Australia, Denmark, UK, and USA) participated.

Conducting qualitative research in audiology: a tutorial.

Objective: Qualitative research methodologies are being used more frequently in audiology as it allows for a better understanding of the perspectives of people with hearing impairment. This article describes why and how international interdisciplinary qualitative research can be conducted.

Design: This paper is based on a literature review and our recent experience with the conduction of an international interdisciplinary qualitative study in audiology.