Audiology features
Introduction to speech testing
Let’s get back to basics: Dr Schoepflin introduces the concepts behind speech testing for hearing care professionals. While pure tone threshold testing is considered the ‘gold standard’ for assessing auditory sensitivity, the results of pure tone testing provide only limited...
The importance of s-ABR in auditory disorders
S-ABR is a method of recording speech-evoked-potentials, but where does it fit in the clinical and research test battery? Here, the authors examine the opportunities for s-ABR. The integrity of the neural transmission of acoustic stimuli is evaluated by auditory...
Platinum-based chemotherapy, tinnitus and hearing loss
Fortunately, the five-year survival rate of adult cancers is increasing. However, we are seeing for the first time the lasting effects of cancer treatments on people. As more people live with the long-term effects of treatment, such as chemotherapy, it is imperative to understand the impact it has on quality of life.
Leadership in healthcare
There is often a great deal of confusion over the words ‘management’ and ‘leadership’. Sometimes they are used interchangeably. Sometimes they are used to represent opposite ends of a spectrum. Sometimes both are used as collective nouns, or to describe an activity.
Current management of unilateral sporadic vestibular schwannoma
Vestibular schwannoma is the commonest tumour of the cerebellopontine angle (80%) and accounts for around 8% of all intracranial tumours. The commonest primary presenting symptoms are audio vestibular. Hearing health professionals are often the first contact for patients with potential symptoms of vestibular schwannoma, with the majority then being seen and diagnosed by otorhinolaryngologists.
Current perspectives of tinnitus and its management
Whilst there are various therapeutic options for ameliorating the impact of tinnitus, there is no current approved treatment for attempting to eradicate, or even for reducing, the loudness of tinnitus.
Getting started in research
Dave had a passion for research and was very encouraging in developing a research interest in others. Bhavisha and Amanda are currently working with a team of researchers, patients, research funders, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, to develop the 2023-2028 UK Action Plan for Hearing loss and Tinnitus Research - a set of recommendations to grow hearing research in the UK. Here, they discuss their journey to hearing care research and how you could get involved in the world of research.
Implicit bias in audiology and wider healthcare
What is implicit bias and how might it affect patient outcomes in hearing healthcare? Yovina Khiroya provides insight into the terminology and the effect on people and service delivery. As much as possible within healthcare, we try to reduce implicit...
Current update on vestibular and balance disorders in children
Vestibular and balance disorders in children with hearing loss often go unrecognised. This article describes the significant impact such disorders have on the various aspects of children’s development. Vestibular and balance disorders occur in the paediatric population but can go...
Hearing screening during childhood using speech and sounds in noise
Although there is high prevalence of late-onset, progressive, and acquired hearing losses during childhood, these hearing losses can easily go undetected due to the lack of systematic hearing screening beyond newborn hearing screening. In this article, the authors share the...
EEG as a measure of neuroplasticity in children
Measuring changes in neural activity can teach us a lot about hearing loss and the effect of gained functional hearing. In this article, the authors describe how electroencephalography (EEG) is being used to effectively measure such changes in children with...
What you need to know about recent advances in genetics of hearing loss in the newborn
Identifying the underlying genetic cause of hearing loss in newborns can improve dramatically the early diagnosis and appropriate intervention. Hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder at birth, affecting approximately two out of 1000 newborns [1]. Congenital impaired hearing...
