Hearing Conservation Program For Marching Band Members: A Risk For Noise-Induced Hearing Loss?

Purpose: To examine the risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in university marching band members and to provide an overview of a hearing conservation program for a marching band. Method: Sound levels during band rehearsals were recorded and audiometric hearing thresholds and transient otoacoustic emission were measured over a 3-year period. Musician's earplugs and information about hearing loss were provided to the students. The hearing thresholds of other college students were tested as a partial control. Results: There were no significant differences in hearing thresholds between the two groups. During initial testing, more marching band members showed apparent high-frequency notches than control students. Follow-up hearing tests in a subsequent year for the marching band members showed that almost all notches disappeared. Persistent standard threshold shift (STS) across tests was not observed in the band members. Conclusion: Band members showed no evidence of STS or persistent notched audiograms. Because accepted procedures for measuring hearing showed a lack of precision in reliably detecting early NIHL in marching band members, it is recommended that signs of NIHL be sought in repeated measurements compared to baseline audiograms rather than in a single measure (a single notch). A hearing conservation program for this population is still recommended because of lengthy rehearsal times with high sound-level exposure during rehearsals.Communication Sciences and Disorder

Peak Performance for Student-Athletes

The academic advisors, working with a sport psychologist, selected freshman football players as the target group for their first attempt at reinforcing the use of psycho-educational techniques across the athletic and academic dimensions. Subsequently, the football coaching staff was asked to identify three major psychological constructs they believed would lead to optimal performance in football for the forthcoming season. Based on the coaches' rankings of the perceived importance of specific constructs for athletic success, the prioritized list included goal-setting, stress management, and visualization (imagery), respectively. These constructs were then used as the focal points for a 15-week class designed to demonstrate similarities between concepts used during football practices and games and academic situation. Samples of comparable patterns were game/test, practice/homework, pregame jitters/pretest anxiety, work as a team/study in groups, and review plays in your mind/mentally rehearse important point to remember. It was hoped that academic appeal and enthusiasm could be generated for student-athletes by relying on their high motivation toward athletics. Fifteen freshman football players participated in the project. The group met four days a week for 30 minutes per day prior to a designated study-hall period. Athletic and academic pre-posttest measures were obtained using goal-setting contracts, competitive stress inventories (Sports Competition Anxiety Test-SCAT; Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 with cognitive, somatic, and confidence subscales-CSAI-2), confidence questionnaires (Trait-State Confidence Inventory-TSCI), and self-reports of vividness and controllability during visualization (Vealey, 1986). The same sports tests were used to evaluate academic traits by substituting academic words and phrases for the sport-related terminology. Additionally, grade point averages for fall and spring semesters were obtained. After conducting this year-long exploratory program, two conclusions were reached. First a reduction of anxiety in sport and academic settings occurred for freshman football athletes at the end of two semesters, and secondly, student-athletes preferred personal-social topics over performance-enhancement topics

PSVMC Post Operative Exploratory Study June-July 2015

https://digitalcommons.psjhealth.org/stvincent-bootcamp/1026/thumbnail.jp

When Faculty Downsizing and Student Success Collide

This session will discuss increasing challenges chairpersons and associate deans’ experience when faced with decreasing or limited faculty resources and how this ultimately impacts student success. Opportunities and best practices related to working together as a cohesive leadership team, increasing on time graduation rates and course scheduling will also discussed

Analysis of Successful Initiations of Three Children With Hearing Loss Mainstreamed in Kindergarten Classrooms

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461.2601.45.The communicative interactions of three mainstreamed children who are deaf or hard of hearing (deaf/HOH) were investigated. These children were matched with a classmate who had normal hearing (NH) according to chronological age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status (SES). All subjects were white females approximately 5 years of age. The subjects were videotaped while involved in normal classroom activities. The videotaped interactions were coded for: (a) activity, (b) play level, (c) partner, (d) interactive status, and (e) mode of communication

Understanding speech in modulated interference: Cochlear implant users and normal-hearing listeners.

Many competing noises in real environments are modulated or fluctuating in level. Listeners with normal hearing are able to take advantage of temporal gaps in fluctuating maskers. Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss show less benefit from modulated maskers. Cochlear implant users may be more adversely affected by modulated maskers because of their limited spectral resolution and by their reliance on envelope-based signal-processing strategies of implant processors. The current study evaluated cochlear implant users' ability to understand sentences in the presence of modulated speech-shaped noise. Normal-hearing listeners served as a comparison group. Listeners repeated IEEE sentences in quiet, steady noise, and modulated noise maskers. Maskers were presented at varying signal-to-noise ratios ͑SNRs͒ at six modulation rates varying from 1 to 32 Hz. Results suggested that normal-hearing listeners obtain significant release from masking from modulated maskers, especially at 8-Hz masker modulation frequency. In contrast, cochlear implant users experience very little release from masking from modulated maskers. The data suggest, in fact, that they may show negative effects of modulated maskers at syllabic modulation rates ͑2-4 Hz͒. Similar patterns of results were obtained from implant listeners using three different devices with different speech-processor strategies. The lack of release from masking occurs in implant listeners independent of their device characteristics, and may be attributable to the nature of implant processing strategies and/or the lack of spectral detail in processed stimuli

Nutrition provider confidence in the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (MA-CORD) study

Objective: The multi-sector, multi-level Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (MA-CORD) study resulted in improvements in obesity risk factors among children age 2-4 years enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The goal of this study was to examine whether the MA-CORD intervention increased WIC provider confidence in their ability to identify childhood obesity and obesity-related behaviors. Methods: As part of the MA-CORD intervention conducted from 2012 to 2015, we implemented WIC practice changes focused on childhood obesity prevention within two Massachusetts communities. We examined changes in provider confidence to assess childhood obesity risk factors and practice frequency among WIC practices located in MA-CORD intervention communities over a 3-year period, compared to non-intervention sites. We measured provider confidence on a continuous scale using questions previously developed to assess provider and parent confidence to make weight-related behavior change (range 0 to 24). Results: There were 205 providers at baseline and 165 at follow-up. WIC providers at intervention sites reported greater confidence in their ability to identify childhood obesity and obesity-related behaviors compared to the usual care sites (β = 1.01, standard error = 0.13). These findings persisted after adjusting for provider gender, years in practice, highest education level, and WIC position. Conclusions: The MA-CORD intervention was associated with increased WIC provider confidence to assess children's obesity risk. Interventions that increase confidence in assessing obesity-related behaviors may have salutary effects within WIC programs that serve low-income families

Integrating Quality Improvement Into the ECHO Model to Improve Care for Children and Youth With Epilepsy

Objective: Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a telementoring program, utilizes lectures, case-based learning, and an “all teach–all learn” approach to increase primary care provider (PCP) knowledge/confidence in managing chronic health conditions. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Epilepsy and Comorbidities ECHO incorporated quality improvement (QI) methodology to create meaningful practice change, while increasing PCP knowledge/self-efficacy in epilepsy management using the ECHO model. Methods: Monthly ECHO sessions (May 2018 to December 2018) included lectures, case presentations/discussion, and QI review. Pediatric practices were recruited through the AAP. Practices engaged in ECHO sessions and improvement activities including monthly Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, team huddles, chart reviews, and QI coaching calls to facilitate practice change. They were provided resource toolkits with documentation templates, safety handouts, and medication side effects sheets. QI measures were selected from the American Academy of Neurology Measurement Set for Epilepsy. The AAP Quality Improvement Data Aggregator was used for data entry, run chart development, and tracking outcomes. Participants completed retrospective surveys to assess changes in knowledge and self-efficacy. Results: Seven practices participated across five states. Average session attendance was 14 health professionals (range = 13-17). A total of 479 chart reviews demonstrated improvement in six of seven measures: health care transition (45.3%, P =.005), safety education (41.6%, P =.036), mental/behavioral health screening (32.2% P =.027), tertiary center referral (26.7%, not significant [n.s.]), antiseizure therapy side effects (23%, n.s.), and documenting seizure frequency (7.1%, n.s.); counseling for women of childbearing age decreased by 7.8%. Significance: This project demonstrated that integrating QI into an ECHO model results in practice change and increases PCP knowledge/confidence/self-efficacy in managing epilepsy

Case-Control Study of Fetal Microchimerism and Breast Cancer

Prior pregnancy is known to protect against development of breast cancer. Recent studies have demonstrated that pregnancy has the capacity to establish small numbers of immunologically active fetal-derived cells in the mother, a phenomenon known as fetal microchimerism (FMc). We asked whether presence of FMc, routinely acquired during pregnancy, is a protective factor for breast cancer.DNA extracts from peripheral blood specimens were obtained from a population-based case-control study of risk factors for breast cancer in women 21 to 45 years old. Specimens were tested with quantitative PCR for presence and concentrations of male DNA presumed to derive from prior pregnancies with a male fetus. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated with consideration of multiple established reproductive and environmental risk factors for breast cancer. FMc results were generated on 99 parous women, 54 with primary invasive breast cancer and 45 general population controls. FMc prevalence was 56% (25/45) and 26% (14/54) in controls and cases, respectively. Women harboring FMc were less likely to have had breast cancer (OR = 0.29, 95% CI 0.11-0.83; p = 0.02, adjusting for age, number of children, birth of a son, history of miscarriage, and total DNA tested). In addition, FMc concentrations were higher in controls versus cases (p = 0.01). Median concentrations were 2 (0-78) and 0 (0-374) fetal genomes/10(6) maternal genomes in controls and cases, respectively.Results suggest that the enigma of why some parous women are not afforded protection from breast cancer by pregnancy might in part be explained by differences in FMc. Mechanistic studies of FMc-derived protection against breast cancer are warranted