Active clinical trials for "Hearing Loss"

Bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss (PSNHL) is often treated with Cochlear Implants. The majority of bilaterally deafened patients, however, often only receive a unilateral cochlear implant (CI), with resultant limitations related to monaural listening. For unilateral CI users, the deficits inherently associated with monaural listening remain despite the considerable benefits achieved through implantation. Providing bilateral input to monaural listeners (MLs) overcomes some of these disadvantages. Treatment by contralateral routing of signal (CROS) hearing aids, where the signal of interest is routed from the impaired (deaf) ear to the normal cochlea for processing is a promising alternative in unilateral CI recipients who cannot benefit from bilateral CIs. Utilizing CROS technology provides a less invasive alternative for patients who are unable or unwilling to undergo a second CI surgery and offers an innovative approach to resolving the auditory deficits associated with monaural listening. CROS technology has been used to treat traditional monaural listeners since 1965. When applied to unilateral CI users, this novel approach can overcome a key limitation of current treatment by restoring access to sound from the non-implanted ear and improving speech perception in noise.

The aging of the population, and greater exposure to noise, are responsible for an increased incidence of hearing loss (presbycusis). This hearing loss is sensorineural disability that has become a real public health problem. The main means of rehabilitation of this disability is represented by the apparatus of patients with conventional hearing aids. However, these hearing aids have several drawbacks that limit their profits, often abandoning the prosthesis by the patient. Middle ear implants were developed to answer these problems. They are intended to amplify the sound signal by transmitting directly to the middle ear to compensate for the hearing loss and are indicated in case of failure or contraindication of conventional equipment. However, these middle ear implants currently have limitations as performance failure. Recent data show that the performance of the ossicles repair techniques are dependent on the coupling of the ossicular prosthesis to the ossicles. Furthermore, advances in the understanding of the biomechanics of the ossicles confirm the importance of the placement and linkage of surgical restoration processes. This data can be applied to middle ear implants to improve performance. Indeed, a preliminary experimental study on anatomical parts, using analysis of the vibration of the middle ear structures by laser velocimetry, allowed the investigators to define the transducer placement method and coupling method to ossicles. Investigators wish to validate in vivo results in a pilot study on a small number of patients by comparing two surgical techniques guided by velocimetric measures.

This study is designed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of the Phonak Lyric self-replacement procedure, as compared to the HCP-replacement procedure.

Mild to moderate hearing loss remains undertreated, largely because of the high cost of hearing aids. A promising and much less expensive alternative is the use of personal sound amplification products (PSAPs), which are electronic, portable, over-the-counter devices that amplify sound. Studies have shown that the use of PSAPs provides significant hearing benefits and improves the quality of life for older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. However, there is insufficient data to determine the impact of PSAPs use on speech processing in the brain. The purpose of this study is to use electroencephalography (EEG) measurements to assess the neurobiological and behavioral effects of PSAPs on speech perception in noise in individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss. The investigators expect that the PSAPs use will result in an immediate improvement in the ability to perceive speech-in-noise, supporting that these hearing devices may be a means of restoring communication skills in people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Behavioral benefits will be associated with increased brain activity in auditory regions and connectivity between auditory and speech regions in the brain.

This study aims at investigating new automatic fitting techniques for cochlear implant patients based on objective measures. For this reason, the evolution of these neurophysiological measures, expressing the encoding of pure tones and speech, will be characterized in cochlear implanted patients as a function of post-implantation time and will be compared to those of normal hearing subjects. Moreover, the effect of auditory training with new tools based on serious games will be assessed.

People with intellectual disability die five to twenty years earlier than the general population. They also experience high levels of unrecognised disease and receive inadequate levels of health promotion or screening. Although they comprise 2.7% of our population (502 000 Australians) they receive scant, if any, attention in the health literature. The barriers to good health for this population include: communication difficulties, impaired recall of significant health information, and inadequate training of health service providers. This project attempts to minimise some of these barriers through the use of a Health Intervention Package. Use of this package has been evaluated in adults, but not in adolescents, with intellectual disability. The Health Intervention Package includes a comprehensive health review, called the Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP), which is performed by the adolescent's general practitioner, and a diary, the Ask diary, used to collect and store health information and to enhance health advocacy skills. We specifically aim to test if adolescents with intellectual disability using this package will receive better health screening and prevention (our primary outcomes). We also aim to test if using the package results in improved health advocacy by adolescents with intellectual disability and their parents (our secondary outcomes). The tool should also be acceptable to those involved (another secondary outcome). To investigate these aims we propose a clustered randomised controlled trial, a methodology we have used successfully in two previous trials. We will recruit 1000 adolescents (and their carers and teachers) in Special Education Schools and Special Education Units in Queensland. The CHAP health review aims to produce shorter-term benefits of improved health screening/promotion and disease detection, such as increased sensory testing, identification of vision or hearing impairment, and improved immunisation rates. The Ask diary is intended to produce longer-term benefits such as improved communication about health matters, improved health advocacy skills, improved health record keeping, and increased health maintenance.

This study aimed to examine the effects of single and dual-task training on physical function, cognitive function, quality of life, balance, concerns about falling, and activities of daily living in the elderly with age-related hearing loss. The elderly who were diagnosed with age-related hearing loss in Pamukkale University Health, Practice and Research Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology participated in the study. The elderly were allocated a single-task training group, dual-task training group, and control group. Thirteen patients in the single-task training group, 15 patients in the dual-task training group, 14 patients in the control group completed the study. Degrees of hearing loss were determined by pure tone audiometry. Evaluations, Senior Fitness Test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, World Health Organization- Quality of Life- Old Module, Berg Balance Scale, Falls Efficacy Scale International, Functional Independence Measure, Dual Task Questionnaire, Dual Task Effect, were performed initially, after the interventions and at the 6th month. The interventions were carried out two days a week and 40 minutes, for five weeks.

The purpose of this study is to examine the short-term effects of complementing an educational program for hearing aid users with Internet support.

Currently, the fitting of hearing aids is using a computer interface that allows to adjust the gain and compression of acoustic amplification. This adjustment is made face to face, patient and audiologist being located in a soundproof space to test the effectiveness of the hearing aid. However, advances in telemedicine in this context, let consider the possibility of addressing these hearing aids fitting via the same computer interface, but remotely controlled by the hearing care professional. The purpose of this study is to assess the ability to perform these tests no longer in front of the patient settings, but away from it, and without visual and sound contact other than through a computer interface. At the end, this project wants to show that a remote fitting is an acceptable procedure that provides comparable results to-face fitting in terms of speech perception, speech in noise audiometry, hearing loss related quality of life in order to be able to offer this type of strategy.

Age-related hearing loss is highly prevalent and hearing health care is underutilized. The primary objective of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to investigate the efficacy of a community health worker (CHW)-delivered hearing loss intervention program. A preceding pilot study demonstrated preliminary effectiveness of the intervention program in reducing self-reported hearing handicap, and highlighted its acceptability among the target demographic. The proposed trial will now expand upon lessons learned through previous pilot studies and expand to other affordable residences for low-to-moderate income older adults in Baltimore. Primary outcome measurements will investigate intervention effects on hearing handicap, with secondary measurements investigating effects on domains such as social isolation and quality of life. This trial is a first-in-kind investigation of a novel community-based intervention that addresses hearing loss in a vulnerable, urban population.