20 research outputs found
Improving hearing aid outcomes in background noise: An investigation of outcome measures and patient factors
No full textUniversity of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. November 2022. Major: Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. Advisors: Evelyn Davies-Venn, Peggy Nelson. 1 computer file (PDF); xiv 167 pages.Background noise is reported to be one of the most difficult listening environments by hearing aid users. Digital noise reduction and directional microphones have been added to hearing aids and remote microphones and frequency modulation systems as accessories to help augment speech understanding in background noise for hearing aid users. Despite having this technology, patients still have concerns in background noise. This indicates that there is still a need for evidence-based tools for assessing patient speech understanding needs as well as quantifying amplification benefits in noise to help improve these situations. This dissertation seeks to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of current evidence-based practices tools available for improving speech understanding in noise for individuals with hearing loss. Three main research findings are reported in this dissertation. The first study examined the viability of using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a tool that can be used to measure the hemodynamic response to neural activity in the brain. This study sought to examine if fNIRS is a viable clinical tool for assessing the impact of different listening conditions, speech materials, and hearing aid settings on listening effort. Behavioral data supported the impact of signal degradation on intelligibility and that syntactically complex speech results in greater difficulty parsing content. fNIRS data supported that this difficulty in parsing content could be considered listening effort due to contrasts in hemodynamic responses in the lateral inferior frontal gyrus between grammatically simple and complex constructions. Future work should consider evaluating fNIRS in an older hearing loss group with contrasting degrees of hearing loss and speech complexity. The second study examined the viability of using spectral-ripple modulation detection thresholds (SMD), a tool that could help assess a person's broadband spectral processing abilities as an alternative for a person's speech understanding in noisy environments. In this study, SMD thresholds were examined in a group with normal hearing and a group with hearing loss to determine the impact of bandwidth and intensity on SMD thresholds. Results revealed a significant difference in bandwidth and level within the hearing loss and normal hearing groups, but not across groups. Future work should examine this effect using audibility-controlled conditions across the listener groups, such as simulating a hearing aid in these situations to determine the impact of amplification on SMD thresholds. The final study examined various listener factors that could influence a person's noise tolerance. The acceptable noise level test was used as a metric for noise tolerance. The listener factors that were examined included personality traits, digits in noise ability, and working memory along with hearing aid factors to determine if they can predict a person’s acceptable noise level. Results revealed that the Device Oriented Subjective Outcome subscale of listening effort and the digits in noise task were able to predict the acceptable noise level of a hearing aid user. Future work should look at other patient factors to predict noise tolerance. These three research studies aimed to determine what tests can provide a better assessment of listening needs in noise for persons with hearing loss. The second goal was to determine if individual factors were able to predict a person’s ability to tolerate background noise. The end goal of these studies is to use this information along with future research to determine which individuals would benefit from specific hearing aid settings and/or auditory training based on outcome measures and individual factors.Oeding, Kristi. (2022). Improving hearing aid outcomes in background noise: An investigation of outcome measures and patient factors. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/252322
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social isolation in older adults with vision loss or hearing loss
No full textThe dataset consists of two parts: (1) the data from the intake survey and (2) the data from the main survey. For each part, there are three files including (1) the text version of the survey (.pdf), (2) the survey data (.csv), and (3) the codebook of the data (.csv). The pdf files list all questions in the intake and the main survey. The csv data files include the de-identified responses from each participant. The csv codebook files include the codes used in the csv data files.
Image attribution: Haydn Golden via Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/WUbFp7l75Bs)This is a dataset from a project investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults with sensory loss. Three groups of older adults -- vision loss (VL, N = 13), hearing loss (HL, N = 24), and controls (CTL, N = 18) -- were recruited from the Twin Cities Minnesota community (mean age = 68.18, min = 57, max = 80). Participants were interviewed every 5 to 7 weeks from the end of April to the end of October using the same set of questions. The initial interview at the end of April included retrospective responses to questions regarding participants’ status at the beginning of March, prior to pandemic restrictions, and the beginning of April, after the onset of pandemic restrictions. The survey questions addressed (1) demographic and health information, (2) average number of in-person and electronic social contacts per week, (3) sense of loneliness, (4) accessibility of daily services such as grocery shopping, (5) mental health, (6) worry levels about COVID infection, and (7) impact on daily activities. The dataset is released for sharing and replication purposes.The project is supported by the Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Science at the University of Minnesota.Wu, Yueh-Hsun; Nelson, Peggy; Oeding, Kristi; Teece, Katherine; Anderson, Elizabeth; Legge, Gordon E. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social isolation in older adults with vision loss or hearing loss. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://doi.org/10.13020/vmd2-pa76
Teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Post-Secondary Education [Facilitated Discussion]
No full textFollow-up discussion from a presentation on the same topic by Kari Sween, about the learning needs of deaf and hard of hearing students in college
The effectiveness of directional microphone alignment in the Baha Divino
No full textThe primary objective of this research study is to determine if off-vertical directional microphone alignments of the Baha Divino significantly impact the Reception Threshold for Sentences (RTS, in dB) using the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) in a diffuse listening situation
Transcranial Contralateral Routing of the Signal as a Fitting Option for Patients with Single-Sided Deafness
No full textDifferences in sensation level between the Widex Soundtracker and two real-ear analyzers
No full textSentence recognition in noise and perceived benefit of noise reduction on the receiver and transmitter sides of a BICROS hearing aid
No full textThe effectiveness of the directional microphone in the Oticon Medical Ponto Pro in participants with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss
No full textEffectiveness of the directional microphone in the Baha® Divino™
No full text
Background: Patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) experience great difficulty listening to speech in noisy environments. A directional microphone (DM) could potentially improve speech recognition in this difficult listening environment. It is well known that DMs in behind-the-ear (BTE) and custom hearing aids can provide a greater signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in comparison to an omnidirectional microphone (OM) to improve speech recognition in noise for persons with hearing impairment. Studies examining the DM in bone anchored auditory osseointegrated implants (Baha), however, have been mixed, with little to no benefit reported for the DM compared to an OM.
Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there are statistically significant differences in the mean reception threshold for sentences (RTS in dB) in noise between the OM and DM in the Baha® Divino™. The RTS of these two microphone modes was measured utilizing two loudspeaker arrays (speech from 0° and noise from 180° or a diffuse eight-loudspeaker array) and with the better ear open or closed with an earmold impression and noise attenuating earmuff. Subjective benefit was assessed using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) to compare unaided and aided (Divino OM and DM combined) problem scores.
Research Design: A repeated measures design was utilized, with each subject counterbalanced to each of the eight treatment levels for three independent variables: (1) microphone (OM and DM), (2) loudspeaker array (180° and diffuse), and (3) better ear (open and closed).
Study Sample: Sixteen subjects with USNHL currently utilizing the Baha were recruited from Washington University's Center for Advanced Medicine and the surrounding area.
Data Collection and Analysis: Subjects were tested at the initial visit if they entered the study wearing the Divino or after at least four weeks of acclimatization to a loaner Divino. The RTS was determined utilizing Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) sentences in the R-Space™ system, and subjective benefit was determined utilizing the APHAB. A three-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a paired samples t-test were utilized to analyze results of the HINT and APHAB, respectively.
Results: Results revealed statistically significant differences within microphone (p < 0.001; directional advantage of 3.2 dB), loudspeaker array (p = 0.046; 180° advantage of 1.1 dB), and better ear conditions (p < 0.001; open ear advantage of 4.9 dB). Results from the APHAB revealed statistically and clinically significant benefit for the Divino relative to unaided on the subscales of Ease of Communication (EC) (p = 0.037), Background Noise (BN) (p < 0.001), and Reverberation (RV) (p = 0.005).
Conclusions: The Divino's DM provides a statistically significant improvement in speech recognition in noise compared to the OM for subjects with USNHL. Therefore, it is recommended that audiologists consider selecting a Baha with a DM to provide improved speech recognition performance in noisy listening environments.</jats:p
