AuD students' perceptions and influences regarding careers in independent practice.

PURPOSE: Independent practice (IP) may be important for the financial stability and autonomy of audiology. The authors sought to identify variables that affect doctor of audiology (AuD) students' decisions to enter IP or another practice setting. METHOD: The authors sent a survey link electronically to 1,430 members of the Student Academy of Audiology; 300 returned completed surveys. RESULTS: Nearly 24% of AuD student participants plan to choose IP immediately upon graduation. Men were more likely than women to choose IP as were those who had an IP rotation and were in the 3rd or 4th year of their AuD program. Important predictors included the survey items "job satisfaction among IP practitioners" and "attractiveness of other specialties"; the "patient contact" perception factor; the "overall job satisfaction" influence factor; and the student age (over 30) demographic variable. CONCLUSIONS: It appears likely that audiology IP rates will remain steady at levels that lag behind the IP rates of other doctoring professions. The authors report some of the variables that appear to have driven current AuD students' career setting choices regarding IP.

Audiologists' professional satisfaction.

PURPOSE: The authors surveyed currently practicing audiologists to evaluate their professional satisfaction and compared the results to a similar survey conducted in 1997. METHOD: The authors repeated an audiologist professional satisfaction survey conducted in 1997; 382 randomly chosen, currently practicing audiologists participated. Responses to 38 statements were on a 5-point Likert scale (5 = strong agreement with a statement, 1 = strong disagreement with a statement). The respondent sample was broken down into demographic subgroups, and statements were divided into subgroups reflecting 6 core reward areas that contribute to overall professional satisfaction. RESULTS: Mean group satisfaction was 3.9 ( n = 382; SD = 1.01), which has remained unchanged since 1997 ( p < .05). Private practice audiologists' mean group satisfaction of 4.31 ( n = 80, SD = 0.78) was higher than for other practice settings ( p < .05). AuD private practice owners' mean group satisfaction of 4.52 ( n = 46, SD = 0.66) was higher than for other degrees and practice settings ( p < .05). Core reward area ratings differed for AuD, MA/MS, and PhD degree holders ( p < .05). Correlations between the average core reward area ratings and mean group satisfaction met statistical significance ( p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: These results have implications for goal setting and planning within the profession and for audiologists' career choices.

Assessment of objective pulsatile tinnitus in a patient with syringohydromyelia.

We examined a 38-year-old male with syringohydromyelia and concomitant symptoms suggestive of intracranial hypertension including unilateral low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss and objective pulsatile tinnitus. The tinnitus was heard by the authors (through a hearing aid stethoscope tube), measured objectively (with a probe microphone), measured subjectively (as minimum masking levels and with fixed frequency Bekesy), and altered by changes in ear canal pressure (subjectively reported and measured objectively with a probe microphone). The audiologic symptoms were likely associated with elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure that traveled to the cochlea through the cochlear aqueduct. The tinnitus may have originated from pulsations of central vascular structures that traveled through the cochlear aqueduct or the endolymphatic duct. Hearing loss likely resulted from tinnitus masking or a stiffening of the cochlear partition or stapes footplate.

Hearing handicap among adult residents of an urban homeless shelter.

This retrospective study was undertaken to identify the prevalence of hearing loss in the homeless population and its implications for vocational rehabilitation. Audiometric threshold data for adult residents of an urban homeless shelter were collected and reported. Subjects with hearing loss were identified and defined by their binaural high-frequency pure tone average (B-HFPTA). Those subjects were assigned a predicted Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults-Screener (HHIA-S) score. Their HHIA-S scores, in turn, were used to predict hearing handicap and hearing aid candidacy. Significant hearing handicap was predicted for 35.6% of subjects; 10.6% were identified as hearing aid candidates. These findings have implications for vocational rehabilitation that have not been previously addressed.