Blast Exposed Veterans With Auditory Complaints

The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) was administered at the end of the treatment period (6-months post-fitting) to measure self-perceived benefit. The APHAB is a 24-item self-assessment inventory used to indicate the extent to which listeners experience listening difficulties (with and without hearing aids) in various settings. The questionnaire uses a 7-point scale that corresponds to the frequency with which difficulties are experienced (99 to 1% of the time). The APHAB was administered for both unaided listening and aided listening, and benefit was calculated by subtracting the mean aided scores from the mean unaided scores. Higher benefit scores (e.g., 99% unaided - 25% aided vs. 99% unaided - 50% aided) reflected greater benefit (better outcome) and negative scores were possible. The null hypothesis tested was that no hearing aid benefit would be demonstrated by any of the 3 groups at 6-months post-fitting.

Time frame: The APHAB was administered 6-months post-fitting. The delayed group had a 6-month delay prior to the treatment (6-months of wearing the hearing aids).

Population: A total of 37 participants were recruited to enroll in the treatment (clinical trial) part of the study. Eight of these 36 participants did not complete the treatment. The APHAB benefit data shown here were collected at 6-months post-fitting (end of the treatment) from the 3 groups of participants. One APHAB (aided and unaided portions) was completed per participant.

Self-perceived hearing handicap was measured with the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA), pre- and 6-months post-hearing aid fitting. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 100, with the higher score reflecting greater handicap (worse outcome). The data are presented as a comparison between the two questionnaire administrations (pre- and 6-months post-fitting). The null hypothesis tested was that there would be no difference between the HHIA administered at baseline (pre-fitting) and 6-months post-fitting for all groups.

Time frame: The participants wore their hearing aids for 6 months-fitting (baseline to 6-months post-fitting). The delayed group had a 6-month delay prior to treatment.

Population: A total of 37 participants were recruited to enroll in the treatment (clinical trial) part of the study. Eight of these 37 participants did not complete the treatment. The handicap scale was administered twice (pre-fitting and 6-months post-fitting) to the three groups. The Outcome Measure Data Table reflect comparisons between the overall scores for the 2 questionnaire administrations.

The participants reported whether they would continue to use their hearing aids after the study has ended. The null hypothesis tested was that neither group would demonstrate a significant preference for retaining their hearing aids.

Time frame: 6 months post-fitting

Population: A total of 37 participants were recruited to enroll in the treatment (clinical trial) part of the study. Eight of these 36 participants did not complete the treatment. The data shown here were collected at 6-months post-fitting (end of the treatment) from the 3 groups of participants.

Hearing aid use time was the number of participants who wore their hearing aids for an average of at least 4 hours per day. The average number of hours that the participants used their hearing aids was measured by their hearing aid data logging systems. These data were collected at the end of the treatment interval for each participant and were considered a positive outcome if they wore their hearing aids at least 4 hours a day on average after 1 month of use. The null hypothesis tested was that none of the participants in the three groups would not demonstrate hearing aid use time 4 hours or more, on average per day.

Time frame: Hearing aid use time was collected at 6 months post-fitting.

Population: These data are a count of participants who wore their hearing aids at least 4 hours per day on average after 1 month of use. A total of 37 participants were recruited to enroll in the treatment (clinical trial) part of the study. Eight of these 37 participants did not complete the treatment.

The participants' speech perception was measured at the word level with the California Consonant Test (CCT). The CCT is a 50 item a closed-set word identification test. It was administered at 3 timepoints (pre-fitting, 1-week post-fitting, and 6-months post-fitting), with testing was completed in quiet and in background noise (speech babble, +3 dB signal/babble) at each timepoint. The participants were unaided during the pre-fitting testing but wore their hearing aids during the two post-fitting sessions. The outcome measure was the proportion of correct trials out of 50. A correct trial consisted of an accurate identification of the target word presented to the participant in the sound-field at 40 dB sensation level. The null hypothesis tested was that speech perception would not improve over the treatment intervals for the groups for either test condition (quiet and noise).

Time frame: The CCT was administered immediately pre-fitting (unaided), 1 week post-fitting (aided), and 6 months post-fitting (aided).

Population: A total of 37 participants were recruited to enroll in the treatment (clinical trial) part of the study. Eight of these 37 participants did not complete the treatment and are not reflected in the data reported here.