The effect of hearing impairment on the vocal characteristics of older people

Measures of vocal intensity, frequency and harshness were compared for 19 hearing-impaired and 21 normal-hearing people over 60 years of age. Significantly greater comfortable intensity levels were found in the hearing-impaired group, but the other measures of frequency and harshness were not significantly different. A large proportion of the subjects in both groups reported a history of gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER), a condition associated with vocal fold pathology and hoarseness. Comparison of the GER and non-GER subjects on the measures of vocal function showed that the female GER speaker exhibited lower frequency on the vowel /u/ than the non-GER subjects. Clinicians need to be aware of the effect of highly prevalent disorders such as hearing impairment and GER on the voices of elderly speakers

Normative data for the Boston naming test for Australian elderly

The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is frequently used to assess for word-retrieval difficulties, but its use outside North America is restricted by items such as 'beaver' and 'pretzel'. A total of 136 older Australians were tested on the BNT. Those items which frequently produced naming errors were identified and alternative items trialled. Age, years of schooling, visual acuity and forward and backward digit span assessments were correlated with BNT scores, and errors were analysed. The mean BNT score for Australian subjects was two to five items below the reported mean scores of North American subjects. Percentages correct for 'beaver' and 'pretzel' were greater than two standard deviations below the mean BNT score, and alternative items are proposed. Age, years of schooling, visual acuity and backward digit span were all found to be significantly correlated with BNT scores, and semantically related errors were the most frequent type of error followed by 'don't-know' responses. This study suggests that examiners need to be cautious when interpreting BNT scores of Australian and possibly other non-American subjects. Cut-off scores need to take into account word-frequency differences between cultures, and examiners need to be aware of the effects of age, educational level, visual acuity and memory.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Rehabilitation and outcome of severe profound deafness in a group of 16 infants affected by congenital cytomegalovirus infection

The aim of the study was to characterize the audiological consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection (CMV) and to evaluate the outcome of rehabilitation with hearing aids and/or cochlear implant (CI), associated with an adequate speech-language therapy. A retrospective review of data was made from a total of 16 infants, affected by severe to profound hearing loss from congenital CMV infection, referred to a tertiary audiological center for rehabilitation. Audiological evaluation was performed using behavioral audiometry, auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and/or electrocochleography (ECochG). Of the 16 children (median age at diagnosis of hearing loss: 21.33 +/- 0.7 months) with CMV hearing loss, 14 were affected by profound bilateral hearing loss and received a CI, while 2 were affected by bilateral severe hearing loss and received hearing aids. Cochlear implants can provide useful speech comprehension to patients with CMV-related deafness, even if language development is lower when compared to a group of Connexin (Cx) 26+ cochlear-implanted children (eight subjects), matched for age. Congenital CMV infection still represents a serious clinical condition, as well as an important cause of hearing loss in children. More studies have claimed to identify the pathophysiological mechanisms of damage and thus to ensure a better therapeutic approach. Nonetheless, in cases of CMV-deafened babies, the overall outcome of cochlear implantation is good