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From aaargh to zzzzz: the ABC of paediatric anaesthesia

Andrew McTavish is one of those special breeds who not only relishes complex anaesthesia, but also does so in paediatric patients. Dealing with this group of patients requires careful planning according to accepted practice, and here he discusses some recent...

Diabetes and hearing loss: a review

As hearing health professionals we often ask, especially in older patients, if they have diabetes; but what is the link? How is it manifested and should it change current practice? Alec Lapira reviews the changing evidence. Early attempts to establish...

The mounting burden of hearing loss worldwide: gearing up global collaboration

As audiology and ENT professionals we all have an inkling about the prevalence and impact of hearing loss, but the true gravity of the situation is even greater than previously thought… It may seem hard to believe, but in the...

Public health planning for hearing impairment (2017)

In 2009 Professor Andrew Smith and Dr Daksha Patel identified the need for awareness of public health methods in hearing healthcare planning. In 2010 the first training course was held, and since then 760 health workers from 41 countries have...

Developing outcome measures for research

There are challenges in developing outcomes measures; Professor Hall presents five top pointers for making rapid progress in developing outcome measures for research purposes. Anyone who has worked clinically with hearing loss will appreciate that every patient’s experience is personal....

The basis of the bargain: outcomes not inputs

There are international drivers focusing our attention on measuring outcomes; Anthony Hogan looks at the data to see how we are currently measuring up. Introduction A global paradigm change is impacting on the provision of disability services. At its heart,...

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...

Health related quality of life measures as outcome parameters in middle ear diseases

Surely the only outcome needed for post-surgical ears is a better PTA? Marcus Neudert argues there should be more to it than that. To draw a comprehensive picture of the disease-associated restrictions in patients with chronic otitis media, audiometric outcome...

Hidden hearing loss in humans

Awareness of cochlear synaptopathy (‘hidden hearing loss’) is growing. Chris Plack gives us an introduction to the condition, defining it and reviewing recent research in humans and animals with respect to noise exposure. The main cause of hearing loss is...

A binaural detection task that reveals deficits in listeners having ‘slight’ or ‘hidden’ hearing loss

The association of degraded binaural processing in adults with clinically defined ‘slight’ or ‘hidden’ high frequency hearing loss is of great interest to clinicians if it can be measured. Leslie R Bernstein and Constantine Trahiotis share their findings in measurements...

What’s hidden in hidden hearing loss?

In order to truly understand the many key aspects of acquired sensorineural hearing loss, the role of cochlear synaptopathy or ‘hidden hearing loss’ must be considered. Dan Guo and Sharon Kujawa review and summarise what we know to date, including...

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...