Audiology features
Adult speech testing in the UK
What do hearing healthcare providers see as the benefits and barriers to delivering speech testing? This article explores the latest research. Why speech testing? Speech tests have been used across ENT and audiology practice to measure an individual’s speech recognition...
Using the Ling-Madell-Hewitt (LMH) Test Battery
Why change a classic? Because of new knowledge and improved technology, of course! Drs Hewitt and Madell present an update to Daniel Ling’s classic speech test. One of Daniel Ling’s legacies is the Ling Six Sound Test which presents six...
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...
Paediatric auditory brainstem implant: overview and outcomes
Auditory brainstem implants were first used in adults with NF2. They have more recently become a technology option for children but what is the evidence to support this choice? This article discusses the evidence so far. Auditory brainstem implant is...
Management of single-sided deafness in adults: a bone conduction solution
Single-sided deafness (SSD) presents a limited number of methods for management, and not all of them meet the patient’s expectations. The aim of this article is to set out the available bone-conduction treatment methods for managing single‑sided deafness in adults....
