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To assess the psychometric properties of a Norwegian translation of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI-NOR). A survey was sent by post to patients referred with tinnitus as their main complaint to an audiology department. Patients completed a Norwegian version of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI-NOR), a Norwegian translation of two revised subscales of the Abbreviated profile of hearing aid benefit (APHAB), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) as well as questionnaires measuring coping expectancies (TOMCATS) and neuroticism (EPI). Ninety-nine persons with tinnitus. No associations were found between THI-scores or pure-tone audiometry, gender or age. The proposed subscales of the original THI were not formed by responses from responders. The total scale shows good psychometric properties. Significant correlations were found between distress as measured by the GHQ-12, coping expectancies as measured by TOMCATS and neuroticism as measured by EPI and THI scores. THI-NOR has psychometric properties similar to those of the Danish translation (THI-DK), from which it was adapted, and to the original THI. THI-NOR seems to be a valid measure of the impact of tinnitus on a person's everyday life. Findings show that the suggested subscales of the questionnaire should be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The impact of hearing loss on the individual and his/her everyday life can be assessed using questionnaires with the purpose to improve rehabilitation quality. The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) can be used to evaluate disability in everyday life associated with hearing loss. Previous studies have examined APHAB outcomes in sensorineural hearing loss and we do not know whether the type of hearing loss influence questionnaire outcomes. Purpose: The purpose was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Swedish translation of the APHAB and the influence of demographic variables on the outcome in a clinical sample. Research Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional study in a clinical sample. Study Sample: Forty-eight participants with no hearing aid experience seeking audiological rehabilitation for the first time. These participants represented different degrees of hearing loss and three types of hearing loss: monaural mixed, binaural mixed, and binaural sensorineural hearing loss. Data Collection and Analysis: Pure-tone audiometry was conducted and the participants completed the unaided APHAB during their first appointment at the clinic. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire were examined and the influence of age, gender, type of hearing loss, and degree of hearing loss on APHAB scores were studied. Results: The psychometric properties indicate high test-retest reliability but there seems to be some potential issues with the properties of the reverberation (RV) subscale. The items from the RV subscale failed to load as a separate component and the internal consistency of the subscale improved by removing four items (items 1, 9, 11, and 16).With few exceptions, APHAB scores were not influenced by age, gender, or type of hearing loss. APHAB scores were generally influenced by degree of hearing loss in both the best and the worst ear. Conclusion: This Swedish version of the APHAB can be additionally improved by addressing the inconsistencies found in the RV subscale by rephrasing or removing some items. The degree of hearing loss has some influence on questionnaire outcomes but not age, gender, and type of hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pure tone audiometry may seem to be a relatively easy task for the participant but it may involve cognitive as well as sensory abilities. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between hearing thresholds in the frequency range 0.125–8 kHz and the core executive function cognitive flexibility in healthy individuals with normal hearing. Design: Experimental study measuring correlations between different pure-tone hearing threshold measures and cognitive flexibility. Pure tone air conduction audiometry (frequencies 0.125–8.0 kHz) and two tests of cognitive flexibility (information updating and shifting ability) were conducted. Study sample: Seventy-two subjects (aged between 21 and 36) with normal hearing (<20 dB HL) for the tested frequencies. Results: Four measures of average pure tone hearing thresholds were negatively correlated with cognitive flexibility. Conclusions: Pure-tone air conduction hearing thresholds seem to be related to cognitive flexibility in healthy individuals with normal hearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the relationship between extended high-frequency pure tone hearing thresholds (frequencies 10 to 14 kHz) and working memory capacity (WMC), inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Design: Experimental study measuring correlations between different high-frequency hearing threshold measures and cognitive measures. Study: Pure tone audiometry was assessed in the extended high-frequency (frequencies 10, 12.5 and 14 kHz). Subjects were also tested regarding WMC, inhibitory control (response inhibition), and cognitive flexibility (information updating and shifting ability). Sample: Forty-three subjects between 20 and 29 years old with normal hearing (≤ 20 dB HL) in the frequency range between 0.125 to 8 kHz. Results: No significant correlations were seen between high-frequency hearing thresholds defined as average best and worst ear high-frequency hearing thresholds and the cognitive measures. Differences between the best and the worst ear showed significant negative correlations with inhibitory control and global executive function (combination score for WMC, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility). Conclusions: The present study suggests that global executive functions, more specifically response inhibition, and hearing threshold asymmetry in the extended high-frequency range are interrelated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A common complaint by people with tinnitus is that they experience that the tinnitus causes attention and concentration problems. Previous studies have examined how tinnitus influences cognitive performance on short and intensive cognitive tasks but without proper control of hearing status. Purpose: To examine the impact tinnitus and high-frequency hearing thresholds have on reading comprehension in quiet and in background noise. Research Design: A between-group design with matched control participants. Study Sample: One group of participants with tinnitus (n = 20) and an age and gender matched control group without tinnitus (n = 20) participated. Both groups had normal hearing thresholds (20 dB HL at frequencies 0.125 to 8 kHz). Data Collection and Analysis: Measurements were made assessing hearing thresholds and immediate and delayed recall using a reading comprehension test in quiet and in noise. All participants completed the Swedish version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and participants with tinnitus also completed the Tinnitus Questionnaire. Results: The groups did not differ in immediate nor delayed recall. Accounting for the effect of age, a significant positive correlation was found between best ear high-frequency pure tone average (HF-PTA; 10000, 12500, and 14000 Hz) and the difference score between immediate and delayed recall in noise. Conclusions: Tinnitus seems to have no effect on immediate and delayed recall in quiet or in background noise when hearing status is controlled for. The detrimental effect of background noise on the processes utilized for efficient encoding into long-term memory is larger in participants with better HF-PTA. More specifically, when reading in noise, participants with better HF-PTA seem to recall less information than participants with poorer HF-PTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study explores the effect of voice quality and competing speaker/-s on children's performance in a passage comprehension task. Furthermore, it explores the interaction between passage comprehension and cognitive functioning. Methods: Forty-nine children (27 girls and 22 boys) with normal hearing (aged 7-12 years) participated. Passage comprehension was tested in six different listening conditions; a typical voice (nondysphonic voice) in quiet, a typical voice with one competing speaker, a typical voice with four competing speakers, a dysphonic voice in quiet, a dysphonic voice with one competing speaker, and a dysphonic voice with four competing speakers. The children's working memory capacity and executive functioning were also assessed. Results: The findings indicate no direct effect of voice quality on the children's performance, but a significant effect of background listening condition. Interaction effects were seen between voice quality, background listening condition, and executive functioning. Conclusions: The children's susceptibility to the effect of the dysphonic voice and the background listening conditions are related to the individual's executive functions. The findings have several implications for design of interventions in language learning environments such as classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the effect of voice quality and competing speakers on perceived effort in a passage comprehension task in relation to cognitive functioning. In addition, it explores if perceived effort was related to performance. A total of 49 children (aged 7:03 to 12:02 years) with normal hearing participated. The children performed an auditory passage comprehension task presented with six different listening conditions consisting of a typical voice or a dysphonic voice presented in quiet, with one competing speaker, and with four competing speakers. After completing the task, they rated their perceived effort on a five-grade scale. The children also performed tasks measuring working memory capacity (WMC) and executive functioning. The results show that voice quality had no direct effect on perceived effort but the children's ratings of perceived effort were related to their executive functioning. A significant effect was seen for background listening condition indicating higher perceived effort for background listening conditions with competing speakers. The effects of background listening condition were mainly related to the children's WMC but also their executive functioning. It can be concluded that the individual susceptibility to the effect of the dysphonic voice is related to the child's executive functioning. The individual susceptibility to the presence of competing speakers is related to the child's WMC and executive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The vast majority of previous studies suggest that there is no relationship between the acceptable noise level (ANL) and pure-tone hearing thresholds reported as the average pure-tone hearing thresholds (pure-tone average). This study aims to explore (a) the relationship between hearing thresholds at individual frequencies and the ANL and (b) a measure of the slope of the audiogram and ANL. Method: Sixty-three Danish adult hearing aid users participated. Assessments were pure-tone audiogram and 3 different versions of the ANL test made monaurally at 2 different sessions. Results: The findings show that low-frequency hearing thresholds and the slope of the audiogram are significantly related to all versions of the ANL. Conclusion: It is possible that previous studies have failed to discover a relationship between ANL and hearing thresholds due to the use of the broad 4-frequency pure-tone average. This has implications for our understanding of the ANL test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the efficacy of fixed-frequency Békésy's home audiometry to assess hearing fluctuation and treatment outcomes in patients with subjectively fluctuating hearing loss. Design: SMAPH, a software audiometry program for Windows, was installed and calibrated on laptop computers. Békésy's audiometry was carried out daily in the patients' homes, using sound-attenuating earphones. Study sample: Seventeen patients with previously or currently subjectively fluctuating hearing loss. Five patients received of treatment for their conditions during the measurement period. Results: Measurement periods ranged from 6 to 60 days. Varying degrees of compliance were seen, some patients measuring less than 50% of the days, others measuring every day. Based on their long-term measurements the patients were classified into three groups: patients with stable recordings, with fluctuating low-frequency hearing loss, or with fluctuating high-frequency hearing loss. In the patients with stable recordings, significant test–retest differences were seen below 10 dB at frequencies 0.125–8 kHz. Conclusions: Home audiometry with Békésy's technique can be used to evaluate disease activity and to monitor hearing results after therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Acceptance and readiness to seek professional help have shown to be important factors for favourable audiological rehabilitation outcomes. Theories from health psychology such as the transtheoretical (stages-of-change) model could help understand behavioural change in people with hearing impairment. In recent studies, the University of Rhode Island change assessment (URICA) has been found to have good predictive validity. Design: In a previous study, 224 Swedish adults who had failed an online hearing screening completed URICA and two other measures of stages of change. This follow-up aimed to: (1) determine prevalence of help-seeking at a hearing clinic and hearing aid uptake, and (2) explore the predictive validity of the stages of change measures by a follow-up on the 224 participants who had failed a hearing screening 18 months previously. Study sample: A total of 122 people (54%) completed the follow-up online questionnaire, including the three measures and questions regarding experience with hearing help-seeking and hearing aid uptake. Results: Since failing the online hearing screening, 61% of participants had sought help. A good predictive validity for a one-item measure of stages of change was reported. Conclusions: The Staging algorithm was the stages of change measure with the best ability to predict help-seeking 18 months later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the ability to discriminate low-frequency pure-tone stimuli for ears with and without contralateral dead regions, in subjects with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss; we examined associations between hearing loss characteristics and frequency discrimination of low-frequency stimuli in subjects with highfrequency hearing loss. Design: Cochlear dead regions were diagnosed using the TEN-HL test. A frequency discrimination test utilizing an adaptive three-alternative forced choice method provided difference limens for reference frequencies 0.25 kHz and 0.5 kHz. Study sample: Among 105 subjects with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss, unilateral dead regions were found in 15 subjects. These, and an additional 15 matched control subjects without dead regions, were included in the study. Results: Ears with dead regions performed best at the frequency discrimination test. Ears with a contralateral dead region performed significantly better than ears without a contralateral dead region at 0.5 kHz, the reference frequency closest to the mean audiogram cut-off, while the opposite result was obtained at 0.25 kHz. Conclusions: Results may be seen as sign of a contralateral effect of unilateral dead regions on the discrimination of stimuli with frequencies well below the audiogram cut-off in adult subjects with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The acceptable noise level (ANL) test is a method for quantifying the amount of background noise that subjects accept when listening to speech. Large variations in ANL have been seen between normal-hearing subjects and between studies of normal-hearing subjects, but few explanatory variables have been identified. Purpose: To explore a possible relationship between a Swedish version of the ANL test, working memory capacity (WMC), and auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). Research Design: ANL, WMC, and AEP were tested in a counterbalanced order across subjects. Study Sample: Twenty-one normal-hearing subjects participated in the study (14 females and 7 males; aged 20-39 yr with an average of 25.7 yr). Data Collection and Analysis: Reported data consists of age, pure-tone average (PTA), most comfortable level (MCL), background noise level (BNL), ANL (i.e., MCL -- BNL), AEP latencies, AEP amplitudes, and WMC. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated between the collected variables to investigate associations. A principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was conducted on the collected variables to explore underlying factors and estimate interactions between the tested variables. Subjects were also pooled into two groups depending on their results on the WMC test, one group with a score lower than the average and one with a score higher than the average. Comparisons between these two groups were made using the Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Results: A negative association was found between ANL and WMC but not between AEP and ANL or WMC. Furthermore, ANL is derived from MCL and BNL, and a significant positive association was found between BNL and WMC. However, no significant associations were seen between AEP latencies and amplitudes and the demographic variables, MCL, and BNL. The PCA identified two underlying factors: One that contained MCL, BNL, ANL, and WMC and another that contained latency for wave Na and amplitudes for waves V and Na-Pa. Using the variables in the first factor, the findings were further explored by pooling the subjects into two groups according to their WMC (WMClow and WMChigh). It was found that the WMClow had significantly poorer BNL than the WMChigh. Conclusions: The findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between BNL and WMC, while the association between MCL, ANL, and WMC seems less clear-cut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Interaural attenuation (IA) was evaluated for pure tones (frequency range 125 to 16000 Hz) using Sennheiser HDA 200 circumaural earphones and Telephonics TDH-39P earphones in nine unilaterally deaf subjects. Audiometry was conducted in 1-dB steps using the manual ascending technique in accordance with ISO 8253-1. For all subjects and for all tested frequencies, the lowest IA value for HDA 200 was 42 dB. The present IA values for TDH-39P earphones closely resemble previously reported data. The findings show that the HDA 200 earphones provide more IA than the TDH-39P, especially at lower frequencies (≤500 Hz). It is concluded that contralateral masking should be applied during pure-tone audiometry with the HDA 200 earphones when the level at the test ear is more than 40 dB above the threshold of the non-test ear. Sumario Se evaluó la atenuación interaural (AI) con tonos puros (rango de frecuencia 125-16000 Hz) usando auriculares circumaurales Sennheiser HAD 200 y auriculares Telephonics TDH-39P, en nueve sordos unilaterales. La audiometría se practicó en pasos de 1-dB usando la técnica manual ascendente de acuerdo con ISO 8253-1. En todos los sujetos y en todas las frecuencias el valor de AI más bajo para HDA 200 fue de 42 dB. Los valores actuales de AI para los auriculares TDH-39P se asemejan mucho a los datos previamente reportados. Los hallazgos muestran que los auriculares HDA 200 proporcionan mayor AI que los TDH-39P, especialmente en las frecuencias bajas (≤ 500Hz). Se concluye que el enmascaramiento contralateral debe aplicarse en la audiometría tonal con auriculares HDA 200, cuando el nivel en el oído evaluado sea mayor a 40 dB sobre el umbral del oído no evaluado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]