Active clinical trials for "Deafness"

Osteogenesis Imperfecta-related hearing loss usually occurs in individuals with mild (type I) OI and is much earlier in onset than age-related hearing loss, with the majority of individuals experiencing some minor hearing loss in their 20s. Bisphosphonates have been successfully used to treat otosclerosis, a common cause of hearing loss similar to OI-related hearing loss. As many individuals with OI-related hearing loss also present with otosclerosis and because of their mechanistic similarities, the investigators propose studying the effects of bisphosphonate treatment on individuals diagnosed with both OI type I and hearing loss, thereby determining its effectiveness as a potential treatment for hearing loss. The investigators will enroll 50 individuals diagnosed with type I OI and age 18-100. 25 adults will be enrolled into the treatment arm and receive bisphosphonate treatment (must have at least mild hearing loss), while 25 adults will be enrolled into the control arm. The investigators will enroll 25 children (6-17 years of age) diagnosed with OI who are currently receiving bisphosphonate treatment as part of their care for orthopedic symptoms. The investigators will also observe 25 children (6-17 years of age) diagnosed with OI who are NOT currently receiving bisphosphonate treatment. The study duration is 63 months (approximately 5 years). Enrollment is anticipated to begin in November 2019.

Hearing loss is one of the most common chronic disabilities in the older adult population and affects their quality of life. Hearing aid use can improve one's quality of life by increasing a person's ability to detect, differentiate and locate sound, and improve speech recognition. Several factors seem to reduce motivation to use a hearing aid. Fears of exclusion and shame due to hearing loss are major deterrents to hearing aid use. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counselling style aimed at creating desire in patients to change their behavior. There have been pilot studies that suggest one-on-one MI can increase hearing aid use, but other pilot studies found the reverse hence the evidence is inconclusive. The effectiveness of group MI therapy is also being investigated in MI research. While results in group MI research are promising, studies investigating group MI have been limited to substance abuse.

The proposed study is designed to evaluate the effect of at-home executive function training on cognition and mobility in older adults with age-related hearing loss (ARHL), older adults with normal hearing, and middle-aged adults.

One common side effect of cisplatin chemotherapy is ototoxicity. The drugs sodium thiosulfate and mannitol may protect against cisplatin-induced hearing loss. Specifically, sodium thiosulfate has been found to protect the cells in the inner ear, and may therefore prevent hearing loss. Mannitol can help sodium thiosulfate enter the inner ear, and ponteially increase the effectiveness of sodium thiosulfate. This study aims to assess the efficacy of sodium thiosulfate and mannitol to reduce the hearing impairment caused by cisplatin chemotherapy.

The reason for this clinical trial is to test different ways of carrying out hearing tests to be able to detect for hearing loss within the hospital and at home. Pathway 1: The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether video game hearing tests work well to detect hearing loss caused by antibiotics at home in patients with long-term lung infections. Pathway 2: The goal of this clinical trial is to compare tablet-based (iPad) hearing tests with formal sound booth hearing tests in patients attending hospital outpatient clinics. Pathway 3: The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether audio-training improves listening to speech in the presence of background noise. Researchers will compare participants receiving audio-training with those who did not receive audio-training. This will test if audio-training can improve participant's everyday listening experiences.

The goal of this randomised controlled trial is to test a online hearing support for first-time hearing aid users. The main questions it aims to answer are short- and long-term effects on the emotional and social consequences of hearing loss that the participants experience, use of communications strategies, experienced listening in complex sound environments and perceived effectiveness and satisfaction with hearing aids.

Although many intratympanic agents have been attempted, N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) appears to be the most promising and is a powerful, commonly used anti-oxidant. The goal of this prospective phase 2 randomized controlled trial is to determine the optimal dosage and effectiveness of intratympanic NAC injection in reducing hearing loss in head & neck cancer patients receiving cisplatin chemotherapy with curative intent.

Children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) rarely receive behavioral interventions to prevent the long-term costly outcomes of behavior problems. This project will systematically adapt an evidence-based parent training intervention to increase its acceptability and relevance for parents of young DHH children. Effectiveness of the adapted intervention and its implementation with parents of young DHH children followed in "real world" hearing healthcare clinics will be assessed.

More than 1/3 of adults in the United States seek medical attention for vestibular disorders and hearing loss; disorders that can triple one's fall risk and have a profound effect on one's participation in activities of daily living. Hearing loss has been shown to reduce balance performance and could be one modifiable risk factor for falls. Patients with vestibular hypofunction tend to avoid busy, hectic, visually complex, and loud environments because these environments provoke dizziness and imbalance. While the visual impact on balance is well known, less is known about the importance of sounds. In search for a possible mechanism to explain a relationship between hearing and balance control, some studies suggested that sounds may serve as an auditory anchor, providing spatial cues for balance, similar to vision. However, the majority of these studies tested healthy adults' response to sounds with blocked visuals. It is also possible that a relationship between hearing loss and balance problems is navigated via an undetected vestibular deficit. By understanding the role of auditory input in balance control, falls may be prevented in people with vestibular disorders and hearing loss. Therefore, there is a critical need for a systematic investigation of balance performance in response to simultaneous visual and auditory perturbations, similar to real-life situations. To answer this need, the investigators used recent advances in virtual reality technology and developed a Head Mounted Display (HMD) protocol of immersive environments, combining specific manipulations of visuals and sounds, including generated sounds (i.e., white noise) and real-world recorded sounds (e.g., a train approaching a station). This research will answer the following questions: (1) Are sounds used for balance and if yes, via what mechanism? (2) Do individuals with single-sided hearing loss have a balance problem even without any vestibular issues? (3) Are those with vestibular loss destabilized by sounds? To address these questions, the following specific aims will be investigated in individuals with unilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction (n=45), individuals with single-sided deafness (n=45), and age-matched controls (n=45): Aim 1: Establish the role of generated and natural sounds in postural control in different visual environments; Aim 2: Determine the extent to which a static white noise can improve balance within a dynamic visual environment.

Patients with hearing loss who use cochlear implants (CIs) show significant deficits and strong unexplained intersubject variability in their perception and production of spoken emotions in speech. This project will investigate the hypothesis that "cue-weighting", or how patients utilize the different acoustic cues to emotion, accounts for significant variance in emotional communication with CIs. The results will focus on children with CIs, but parallel measures in postlingually deaf adults with CIs will be made, ensuring that results of these studies benefit social communication by CI patients across the lifespan by informing the development of technological innovations and improved clinical protocols.