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Call to action: dysphagia matters

Dysphagia profoundly impacts quality of life. Multidisciplinary research, like the POuCH study, aims to improve understanding, diagnosis and treatment. We take for granted the simple joys of life – meeting over a cup of coffee, breaking bread with friends or...

Video-augmented consent in thyroid surgery

Short, procedure-specific thyroid surgery videos improve patient understanding, standardise risk discussions and support informed consent. Background Informed consent is an important principle which underpins modern surgical practice. Patients are given information regarding their medical condition, discussion of the proposed treatment,...

Laryngotracheal stenosis and malacia care

Why laryngotracheal stenosis and malacia (LTSM) care matters now? In late 2019, reports began to emerge of severe respiratory infections caused by a novel coronavirus. In the months that followed, intensive care admissions in the UK rose more than tenfold....

Old age is hard to swallow

This article takes us through the diagnosis and management of swallowing problems common in older age. As our global population continues to grow and live longer, dysphagia will continue to be a global problem which needs to be recognised, understood...

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...

Database WG2. The Tinnitus Patient Database in the TINNET COST Action BM1306

Berthold Langguth describes an innovative project that is creating the world’s largest multi-national patient database containing standardised information on tinnitus and medical history, otological examination and psycho-acoustic measures of tinnitus. A challenge for tinnitus treatment and tinnitus research is the...

User perspectives of online audiological rehabilitation programmes

Recent research shows that online audiological rehabilitation programmes have the potential to improve the quality of life of hearing aid users. However, there are still areas that need need improvement. Elisabet Thorén discusses some of the problems people face when...

Hidden hearing loss in humans: cochlear synaptopathy is superseded by cognitive effects when listening to speech in noise

Elizabeth Beach presents an overview of the recent research being undertaken at the National Acoustic Laboratories on speech in noise and its relationship to cochlear synaptopathy. Our team at the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) has been investigating hidden hearing loss...