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Selecting and optimising hearing aids for tinnitus benefit: a rough guide

Hearing aids have a relatively long history as tinnitus treatment tools. Saltzman and Ersner reported success in suppressing tinnitus with simple hearing aids in a number of cases as early as 1947 [1]. In an early comprehensive approach to tinnitus...

Screening for hearing aid fittings – an approach for primary care

Introduction The communication difficulties related to hearing loss can lead to ‘depression, social withdrawal and problems with employment and access to information sources’ [1]. Furthermore, unmanaged hearing loss is associated with dementia, a poorer quality of life, depression, anxiety and...

Inter-professional teamwork and hearing care for older adults with cognitive loss

There is growing awareness that hearing loss is linked to dementia [1]. The average first-time hearing aid user is about 70 years old. By this age, approximately 1 in 2 people have hearing loss and 1 in 7 have cognitive...

Screening: evaluating the outcomes of early intervention

Newborn hearing screening is now the accepted standard of care in several countries, and is becoming increasingly more established worldwide. White [1] reported eight countries screening over 90% of newborns, ten screening between 25-89% of births and a further 54...

The challenge of disrupting the hearing care market in the USA

Barry Freeman, an Audiology Consultant of extensive global experience, examines the business model of hearing care service delivery in America. He discusses the challenges the profession has faced, and proposes some food for thought on learning from other health care...

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...

How should we detect and identify deficit-specific auditory processing disorders?

The human central auditory nervous system (CANS) is complex and highly dependent upon attention and cognitive brain regions. Profs David Moore and Harvey Dillon discuss novel assessment approaches to clarify auditory contributions to listening difficulties in children. How can we...

Hearing care systems in Europe – can we do more?

52 million Europeans experience hearing loss but many don’t find their way to professional hearing care. Lidia Best looks at strategies to improve the uptake of amplification at a national level [1]. With rising numbers of people experiencing hearing loss,...

On the influence of sex on tinnitus burden and its phenotypes

One important aspect of the new paradigm in tinnitus research is to question basic assumptions. What associations does the sex of a person have with their experience of and reaction to tinnitus? Chris Cederroth raises the question and tells us...

Using tele-audiology in Zambia’s ear and hearing care desert

Addressing the medical desert with tele-audiology and tele-education. If a ‘medical desert’ is defined as a community that lives more than 60 miles away from the nearest acute care hospital, then try to imagine an appropriate term for a situation...

Innovative approaches to treating deafness

Shahar Taiber and Karen Avraham give us a summary of gene therapies for hearing loss, with an overview of limitations and what the future holds. Hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder. The last two decades have seen a...

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...