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Questionnaires to measure tinnitus severity

The handicap associated with tinnitus can arise from any combination of stress, anxiety, depression, emotional distress, insomnia, difficulties concentrating, or impairments in quality of life or everyday functioning. Measuring such handicap and determining clinical need is therefore far from trivial....

How cognition influences hearing aid use

Introduction Hearing aids are designed to provide amplification for individuals with poor auditory sensitivity. Signal processing algorithms are designed and implemented in hearing aids to further enhance speech intelligibility and to improve listening comfort by attenuating unwanted background noise. Sarampalis...

Hearing about genes

I have been fortunate in my career to travel as an invited lecturer at many hospitals, universities and professional societies around the world. I have spoken to audiology societies, otolaryngology societies, and university communication disorders programmes in Europe, Asia, Africa,...

Measuring client-centred outcomes in audiology: towards a parsimonious solution

From an international driver to the client-centred care model; in this article Anthony Hogan explores outcome measures for individual goal setting and measuring those outcomes. Introduction When people present for hearing help, they are typically looking for solutions to the...

Lessons from the outcomes of children with hearing loss study

The Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss (OCHL) study of 300 children with hearing loss has targeted several factors that are under the control of audiologists and parents. Drs McCreery and Walker discuss how these ‘lessons learned’ can lead to...

Decreased sound tolerance in autism: understanding and distinguishing between hyperacusis, misophonia, and phonophobia

Decreased sound tolerance (DST) affects a significant proportion of autistic people throughout their lifetime and, as Zachary J Williams explains, it is important that clinicians are aware of the three distinct subtypes of DST when making a diagnosis. Autism spectrum...

Effects of blast and acoustic trauma: assessment of hearing status on war veterans

Introduction Acoustical conditions of the military are often dangerous and there is a real risk of blast trauma and acoustic trauma [1, 2]. Levels of military noises maybe reach up to 125 dBA [3]. Weapons produce instant shock waves (10μs)...

Rotational chair testing: “To rotate, or not to rotate, that is the real question”

Passive whole body rotation tests are widely considered to be the ‘gold standard’ for the identification of bilateral peripheral vestibular disorders (bPVD), but also have a part to play in identifying unilateral disorders (uPVD). In this article Paul Radomskij discusses...

The role of the respiratory physician in sleep medicine

ENT surgeons may feel that they are the first point of referral for the majority of patients with snoring and possible obstructive sleep apnoea, but in reality a significant number of patients with sleep-disordered breathing (of any cause) are seen...

Acute otitis externa: what are the important outcomes?

Matthew Smith discusses a project looking at outcomes of acute otitis externa interventions, and how, going forward, the INTEGRATE team are working with patients to develop outcome measures. Acute otitis externa (AOE) is one of the most common conditions of...

Gastric inlet patch – an under-diagnosed cause of globus

A gastric inlet patch (GIP) is an island of heterotopic gastric mucosa found commonly in the proximal oesophagus just below the upper oesophageal sphincter. It is often underdiagnosed due to its location. Its importance and clinical relevance can be underestimated...