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Background of the Research: Higher prevalence of hearing loss is reported among older adults. Hearing aids have been proven to be a viable option to reduce the burden associated with hearing impairment. Despite these positive aspects, there is no increase seen in hearing aid adoption or usage among individuals with hearing impairment. OBJECTIVE: To explore the aspects favoring hearing aid usage among individuals with hearing impairment based on hearing aid users' and audiologists' perspectives. METHOD: The present study used inductive thematic analysis. The participants were 12 hearing aid users and 12 Audiologists. The study was conducted in interview mode either face-to-face or telephonic mode. The verbatim of the participants was transcribed and different codes were assigned. The codes were used to derive the subthemes and themes. RESULTS: Four major themes were obtained. The first and second themes were Client-centred and Clinician-centred aspects respectively. The third theme focussed on Hearing aid trial and service delivery aspects. The fourth theme discussed mainly Hearing aid-associated benefits and drawbacks. CONCLUSION: Audiologist should effectively address the challenges posted by hearing aid users, this in turn can favor the hearing adoption among the adults with hearing loss.
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Purpose: This study aims to develop an android application that is more compatible and user-friendly for the older adult population with hearing impairment and validate the developed app. Method: The app's framework involved a training mode platform consisting of four levels with four sub-levels each. Every level includes stimuli of word-in-noise containing high and low-frequency words with three different noise types - traffic noise, competing for speech, and speech babble. The levels in the app increased in complexity to provide an efficient auditory training feature. The developed application was validated on older adults and professionals based on a questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. Results: Based on the validated responses of the participants, the app is a reliable tool for auditory training in older adults with hearing impairment. The app contains ease-of-use features for older adults and has been considered a platform for improvement in aural rehabilitation. Conclusion: The study marks as a tool in auditory training for older adults to provide the utmost benefit. Increase in the cases of the hearing-impaired population in a few years, a demand to set up a user-friendly management option is beneficiDigitizationtion of aural rehabilitation, especially for older adults, has thus been noted in the present study.
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To investigate the knowledge and attitude of parents residing in urban and rural areas towards infant hearing loss. This was a cross sectional study with 384 participants. Initially, a pre-test interview was carried out to collect demographic data such as age, gender, educational qualifications, and residential status. The participants' consent was taken prior to the study followed by, administration of knowledge and attitude questionnaire. Mann-Whitney U Test was used to analyze the data and offer inferences. Results revealed poor awareness on knowledge of risk factors towards infant hearing loss among parents. Parents showed positive attitude towards early identification and intervention of hearing loss. There were no significant differences in knowledge of risk factors and attitudes between Urban and Rural population. Statistically significant differences were found only in the second domain which dealt with knowledge of identification and intervention. Overall, the study provides baseline information regarding the parental knowledge and attitude towards infant hearing loss in urban and rural areas. The outcome of this study indicates a dire need for educating and creating awareness among parents regarding the general risk factors and need for early identification and intervention.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Music listening has a concomitant effect on structural and functional organization of the brain. It helps in relaxation, mind training and neural strengthening. In relation to it, the present study was aimed to find the effect of Carnatic music listening training (MLT) on speech in noise performance in adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 28 participants (40-70 years) were recruited in the study. Based on randomized control trial, they were divided into intervention and control group. Intervention group underwent a short-term MLT. Quick Speech-in-Noise in Kannada was used as an outcome measure. RESULTS: Results were analysed using mixed method analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures ANOVA. There was a significant difference between intervention and control group post MLT. The results of the second continuum revealed no statistically significant difference between post training and follow-up scores in both the groups. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion short-term MLT resulted in betterment of speech in noise performance. MLT can be hence used as a viable tool in formal auditory training for better prognosis.
