Noise tolerance in the presence of speech

Noise is a common issue reported by people in reference to speech understanding, both for normal and hearing-impaired people. This study investigated how noise loudness, annoyance, distraction and speech interference impact noise tolerance in normal hearing people while listening to...

Smartphone hearing test

Our Editors’ Choice for this edition reviews an article looking at the use of a smartphone app for hearing screening. We have all had to integrate telehealth into our practice to some extent recently and this paper examines a teleaudiology...

Nasal disease and quality of life in athletes

Rhinitis is a nasal condition which is generally underappreciated in primary care and even less in athletes. In this study, the authors specify nasal symptoms constituting rhinitis as nasal blockage, sneezing bouts, rhinorrhoea and itching and compare their prevalence in...

Allergy testing in children with beta-lactam hypersensitivity

The beta-lactam antibiotic is commonly used in treating ENT infections in childhood. However, its use can be limited by reported hypersensitivity or allergy to the antibiotic. This is largely attributed to the previous development of skin rashes while being on...

SPECT scans not justified in growth of the mandibular condyle

This is a paper from Hong Kong of 200 patients between January 2011 and July 2013 who underwent SPECT bone scintigraphy for assessment of growth causing condylar hyperplasia and subsequent mandibular asymmetry. Thirty-four patients were found to have active growth...