Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Conditions
Keywords
"hair cell", "hearing aid", "hearing loss", "auditory nerve", synaptopathy, "Outer hair cell", "Otoacoustic emission"
Brief summary
Understanding speech is essential for good communication. Individuals with hearing loss and poor speech discrimination often have little success with hearing aids because amplifying sound improves audibility, but not clarity of the speech signal. The purpose of this study is to determine the relative importance of the sensory cells of the inner ear and auditory neurons on speech discrimination performance in quiet and in noise. This information may be used as a predictor of hearing aid benefit. The investigators expect to find decreased speech understanding ability resulting from both loss of sensory cells and the loss of auditory neurons.
Detailed description
Patients receiving routine audiologic evaluations who meet study criteria will be asked to participate in the study. Study participants will receive an ABR and DPOAE evaluation and speech-in-noise testing. Participants who are hearing aid candidates will be fit with loaner hearing aids with noise reduction technology for 2 weeks. Wave 1 amplitudes from the ABR, DPOAE levels, speech discrimination scores, unaided and aided speech0in-noise performance age, and pure tone thresholds will be recorded, as well as any audiologic diagnosis that may confound the results.
Interventions
DEVICEHearing Aid fitting
Subjects with hfPTAs ranging from 0-55 dB HL will be recruitedwith 100 persons self-reporting difficulty HIN (\> 50% of the time), and 100 persons reporting little difficulty HIN (\< 50% of the time) will be randomly assigned to one of five groups (n = 200) based on enabled HA features using an online random assignment tool. Unaided HIQ and HIN assessments will be conducted in the sound field, and baseline DPOAE and CAP assessments will be measured. Subjects will be fit with binaural premium level receiver-in-the canal HAs (Phonak B90 or equivalent model at the start of the study) with 56 dB SPL gain receivers, using closed domes, and programmed to NAL-NL2 target gain, and randomly assigned to the groups.
Sponsors
Steward St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, Inc.
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Normal hearing to moderate sensorineural hearing loss * Sufficient English proficiency to complete speech discrimination testing in English
Exclusion criteria
* Hearing loss less than a 45 dB HL pure tone average (average hearing thresholds at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz) * Conductive hearing loss * Neurodegenerative disease
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Regression analysis | June 2024 | Regression analysis will be used to look for a correlation between measures of sensory cell and auditory neuron survival and speech recognition performance. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMark Parker, PhD
Steward St. Elizabeth's Medical Center
Outcome results
None listed