Why do people fitted with hearing aids not wear them?

Objective: Age-related hearing loss is an increasingly important public health problem affecting approximately 40% of 55–74 year olds. The primary clinical management intervention for people with hearing loss is hearing aids, however, the majority (80%) of adults aged 55–74 years who would benefit from a hearing aid, do not use them. Furthermore, many people given a hearing aid do not wear it. The aim was to collate the available evidence as to the potential reasons for non-use of hearing aids among people who have been fitted with at least one. Design: Data were gathered via the use of a scoping study. Study sample: A comprehensive search strategy identified 10 articles reporting reasons for non-use of hearing aids. Results: A number of reasons were given, including hearing aid value, fit and comfort and maintenance of the hearing aid, attitude, device factors, financial reasons, psycho-social/situational factors, healthcare professionals attitudes, ear problems, and appearance. Conclusions: The most important issues were around hearing aid value, i.e. the hearing aid not providing enough benefit, and comfort related to wearing the hearing aid. Identifying factors that affect hearing aid usage are necessary for devising appropriate rehabilitation strategies to ensure greater use of hearing aids

The design of a project to assess bilateral versus unilateral hearing aid fitting

Binaural hearing provides advantages over monaural in several ways, particularly in difficult listening situations. For a person with bilateral hearing loss, the bilateral fitting of hearing aids thus seems like a natural choice. However, surprisingly few studies have been reported in which the additional benefit of bilateral versus unilateral hearing aid use has been investigated based on real-life experiences. Therefore, a project has been designed to address this issue and to find tools to identify people for whom the drawbacks would outweigh the advantages of bilateral fitting. A project following this design is likely to provide reliable evidence concerning differences in benefit between unilateral and bilateral fitting of hearing aids by evaluating correlations between entrance data and outcome measures and final preferences

A systematic review of studies measuring and reporting hearing aid usage in older adults since 1999: a descriptive summary of measurement tools

Objective: A systematic review was conducted to identify and quality assess how studies published since 1999 have measured and reported the usage of hearing aids in older adults. The relationship between usage and other dimensions of hearing aid outcome, age and hearing loss are summarised. Data sources: Articles were identified through systematic searches in PubMed/MEDLINE, The University of Nottingham Online Catalogue, Web of Science and through reference checking. Study eligibility criteria: (1) participants aged fifty years or over with sensori-neural hearing loss, (2) provision of an air conduction hearing aid, (3) inclusion of hearing aid usage measure(s) and (4) published between 1999 and 2011. Results: Of the initial 1933 papers obtained from the searches, a total of 64 were found eligible for review and were quality assessed on six dimensions: study design, choice of outcome instruments, level of reporting (usage, age, and audiometry) and cross validation of usage measures. Five papers were rated as being of high quality (scoring 10–12), 35 papers were rated as being of moderate quality (scoring 7–9), 22 as low quality (scoring 4–6) and two as very low quality (scoring 0–2). Fifteen different methods were identified for assessing the usage of hearing aids. Conclusions: Generally, the usage data reviewed was not well specified. There was a lack of consistency and robustness in the way that usage of hearing aids was assessed and categorised. There is a need for more standardised level of reporting of hearing aid usage data to further understand the relationship between usage and hearing aid outcomes

The Effect of Auditory Distraction on the Useful Field of View in Hearing Impaired Individuals and its implications for driving

This study assessed whether the increased demand of listening in hearing impaired individuals exacerbates the detrimental impact of auditory distraction on a visual task (useful field of view test), relative to normally hearing listeners. Auditory distraction negatively affects this visual task, which is linked with various driving performance outcomes. Hearing impaired and normally hearing participants performed useful field of view testing with and without a simultaneous listening task. They also undertook a cognitive test battery. For all participants, performing the visual and auditory tasks together reduced performance on each respective test. For a number of subtests, hearing impaired participants showed poorer visual task performance, though not to a statistically significant extent. Hearing impaired participants were significantly poorer at a reading span task than normally hearing participants and tended to score lower on the most visually complex subtest of the visual task in the absence of auditory task engagement. Useful field of view performance is negatively affected by auditory distraction, and hearing loss may present further problems, given the reductions in visual and cognitive task performance suggested in this study. Suggestions are made for future work to extend this study, given the practical importance of the findings

Burden of Disease Caused by Otitis Media: Systematic Review and Global Estimates

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Otitis media (OM) is a leading cause of health care visits and drugs prescription. Its complications and sequelae are important causes of preventable hearing loss, particularly in developing countries. Within the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study, for the year 2005 we estimated the incidence of acute OM, chronic suppurative OM, and related hearing loss and mortality for all ages and the 21 WHO regional areas.</p> <h3>Methods</h3><p>We identified risk factors, complications and sequelae of OM. We carried out an extensive literature review (Medline, Embase, Lilacs and Wholis) which lead to the selection of 114 papers comprising relevant data. Data were available from 15 of the 21 WHO regions. To estimate incidence and prevalence for all countries we adopted a two stage approach based on risk factors formulas and regression modelling.</p> <h3>Results</h3><p>Acute OM incidence rate is 10.85% i.e. 709million cases each year with 51% of these occurring in under-fives. Chronic suppurative OM incidence rate is 4.76‰ i.e. 31million cases, with 22.6% of cases occurring annually in under-fives. OM-related hearing impairment has a prevalence of 30.82 per ten-thousand. Each year 21thousand people die due to complications of OM.</p> <h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Our study is the first attempt to systematically review the available information and provide global estimates for OM and related conditions. The overall burden deriving from AOM, CSOM and their sequelae is considerable, particularly in the first five years of life and in the poorest countries. The findings call for incorporating OM-focused action within preventive and case management strategies, with emphasis on the more affected.</p> </div

Störande buller Kunskapsöversikt för kriteriedokumentation

Noise can affect a listener indirectly, even at high intensity levels more generally characterized by the risk for damage to the auditory system. This report focuses on those effects that are termed as annoyance. The annoyance concept adapted for this report encompasses not only reactions directly attributable to noise exposure, but even those reactions that may not be directly associated with the exposure, such as fatigue or irritability. Further, this report addresses how noise can affect performance, as well as how noise can affect various physiological measures of subjective response (e.g. fatigue and stress reactions). Chapter 2 is a presentation of critical physical properties of sound and how these properties can be evaluated. Chapter 3 deals with the physical characteristics of the sound and how these affect perceived annoyance. Chapter 4 is a presentation of how physical sound properties and hearing can affect speech perception. Chapter 5 reviews some of the nonacoustical aspects of annoyance. Three specific sound characters are focused upon and presented in separate chapters. Chapter 7 deals with low frequency noise, Chapter 8 deals with infrasound and Chapter 9 with ultrasound. In Chapter 6, specific problems in learning and performance that noise can produce in school environments are discussed.Buller kan föranleda problem på nivåer långt under de som kan ge upphov till hörselskador. De ljud som kan ge hörselskador kan också på andra sätt påverka dem som utsätts för det. Föreliggande dokument behandlar i huvudsak de av dessa effekter som kan ges den samlade beteckningen störning. I störningsbegreppet, som det används i denna rapport, ingår även andra reaktioner på bullret än direkta värderingar av bullret. I rapporten behandlas även sådana effekter som den bullerexponerade inte själv nödvändigtvis kopplar till bullret. Bullret kan t ex tänkas skapa trötthet eller irritabilitet utan att personen själv ser detta som en bullereffekt. I rapporten behandlas även andra uttryck för bullerstörning än de upplevelsemässiga. Bullret kan göra att arbetsuppgiften blir svårare att genomföra och det kan därför också försämra prestationen. I rapporten ingår även fysio-logiska manifestationer av den subjektiva och beteendemässiga störningen, t ex sömnighet och stressreaktioner. Kapitel 2 behandlar kritiska fysikaliska egenskaper hos ljudet och hur dessa kan mätas. Kapitel 3 tar upp hur de fysikaliska ljudegenskaperna bestämmer ljudets sensoriska kvaliteter och hur dessa påverkar störningsreaktionen. Kapitel 4 redovisar hur fysikaliska ljudegenskaper och hörselskada påverkar talinterferensen. Kapitel 5 behandlar de icke akustiska förhållandenas betydelse för störningsreaktionen. Tre ljudtyper har brutits ut och behandlas i särskilda kapitel. I kapitel 7 behandlas lågfrekvent buller, i kapitel 8 infraljud och i kapitel 9 ultraljud. Dessutom behandlas i kapitel 6 de speciella problem för inlärning och prestation som buller i skolmiljö kan skapa