Auditory and Vestibular Research Journal
Year:2017 | Volume:26 | Issue:4|Papers Count:8

Background and Aim: Acceptable noise level (ANL) is the loudest level of background noise that human can tolerate while listening a running speech. ANL test is used for the prediction that whether a hearing aid (HA) candidate can use HA successfully by determining how well the individual tolerates background noise while listening to speech. In the current review, we reviewed the basis and theories of the ANL test and the factors that identified from the studies that have conducted on ANL and the influence of this test in increasing the quality of life of hearing aid users along with a discussion of its application in clinical audiology.Recent Findings: Research showed that subjects with a higher tolerance for background noise are most probable to be the successful hearing aid users. Clinical trials demonstrated that ANL test provides reliable results and can predict HA successful use with 85% accuracy.Conclusion: Acceptable noise level is a reliable and valid test that can be used as a predictive index for the successful application of HA, and it is applicable in before/after HA fitting assessments.Thus, it is suggested that ANL can be implemented in the fitting and counseling process of HAs prescription. Further studies are required to resolve biases over the employment of this test in bilinguals.

Background and Aim: Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain is the central variable for estimating VOR function, and there are several algorithms to calculate gain. The current study aimed to investigate the ability of VOR instantaneous gain and velocity regression as a possible physiological biomarker for differentiating peripheral vestibular disorders of various etiologies.Methods: Video head impulse test (vHIT) was performed on 27 healthy volunteers (normal group) and 29 patients (pathologic group) including three types of peripheral vestibulopathies including unilateral Meniere's disease, unilateral superior vestibular neuritis, and bilateral vestibulopathy.Results: Analyses indicated that the mean VOR instantaneous gain at 40 ms, 60 ms, 80 ms, and velocity regression at 100 ms differ-red significantly within the normal and pathologic groups. Also, complete normative data for VOR at 40 ms, 60 ms, and 80 ms instantaneous gain has been provided for the vHIT.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that different vestibular pathologies have a distinct effect on cupular-endolymph function, which could be tracked by VOR dynamic changes.

Background and Aim: The pediatric clinical test of sensory interaction for balance (P-CTSIB) evaluates the functional maturity of vestibular, visual, and proprioceptive systems and the quality of sensory interactions between these systems. This test is a simple and inexpensive tool used in the clinical tests of balance performance. The current study aimed at examining the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the P-CTSIB test in preschool children.Methods: The present study was performed on 38 children aged 4 to 6 years in preschools and kindergartens of Tehran, Iran. The test consists of 12 positions including visual positions (eyes open, eyes closed, and wearing a visual-conflict dome), support surface (standing on a hard surface and a foam) and the position of the feet (feet together and heel-toe position). The subjects were evaluated in each of the P-CTSIB test positions twice.Results: Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for standing duration, antero-posterior sway, and lateral sway were 0.92, 0.77, and 0.84, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ranged from 0.70 to 0.92 for standing duration, 0.27 to 0.89 for antero-posterior sway, and 0.31 to 0.87 for lateral sway.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the internal consistency of the P-CTSIB test in 4-6-year-old children was significant. This test has a high reliability in the feet together position. Therefore, the P-CTSIB test with feet together is suggested as a reliable clinical measure to assess children’s balance.

Background and Aim: Autism is a neurodeve-lopmental disorder characterized by disturbances in social interactions and limited and repeated behaviors. The symptoms of this disease appear before the age three. Autism affects information processing in the brain, and it also affects the relation between the nerve cells and synapses and their order. Therefore, the current study aimed at comparing the absolute latencies of wave V in the auditory brainstem response (ABR) between children with and without Autism.Methods: A total of 15 children with Autism and 15 healthy children, aged 4 to 6 years were enrolled in the current study. ABR with click stimulus was recorded at intensity of 75 dBnHL and rate of 27.1 for both groups.Results: The independent t-test was used in this study to determine the differences between the groups. The mean absolute latencies of ABR wave V for the right ear were 5.80 and 5.71, respectively, for the Autism and normal groups, whereas the mean absolute latencies for the left ear were 5.81 and 5.70, respectively, for the Autism and normal groups. The difference in the absolute latency of ABR wave V was significant between the groups both in the left and right ears (p<0.001).Conclusion: Since wave V indicates the performance of the auditory system, based on the obtained results, the absolute latency of wave V can provide specialists with an appropriate pro-gnosis for the therapeutic approaches.

Background and Aim: One of the most important pillars of the constancy of each organization is the satisfaction of its employees. Quality of work life is beyond job satisfaction, it involves the effect of the workplace on satisfaction with the job, satisfaction in non-work life domains and subjective well-being. This study aimed to determine the relationship between job satisfaction and quality of work life among audiologists in Iran.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 251 audiologists. Minnesota and Van Laar questionnaires were used.Results: According to the results, the mean of the job satisfaction of audiologists was 71.8%, generally showing that audiologists were satisfied with their job. Also, mean of the quality of work life of audiologists was 76.8%, which indicates good quality of work life for audiologists. The relationship between the quality of work life and its seven dimensions with job satisfaction was significant (p<0.05). In all of the dimensions except stress at work, the correlation coefficient was positive and significant (p=0.68), however, the relationship between stress at work and job satisfaction was negative. Altogether, job career satisfaction had the strongest and stress at work had the weakest relationship with job satisfaction.Conclusion: The data obtained from this study suggest that audiologists have good job satisfaction and quality of work life which can promise a bright future for audiologists and their clients. Promotion and improvement of dimensions of quality of work life can lead to higher job satisfaction and improve the provision of audiology services to clients.

Background and Aim: Understanding emotion is crucial for human social interactions. Amplitude compression in hearing aids affects acoustical characteristics of incoming sound, which is necessary for emotion recognition. The present study investigated this effect (s).Methods: Hearing aid amplitude compression on Persian emotional speech database (ESD) was simulated using MATLAB software. Three types of hearing loss including high tone loss (HTL), low tone loss (LTL), and flat were simulated using three amplification methods, i.e. fast-acting compression (FAC), slow-acting compression (SAC), and linear. Forty normal hearing young adult subjects (aged 20-35 years, mean and SD: 26.98±4.50) with no depression participated in this study. Emotion recognition before and after hearing aid compression simulation was compared statistically using independent t-test considering p<0.05 as the significance level.Results: Fear, sad, angry, and happy emotion recognition are statistically different in all three types of simulated hearing loss, whereas disgust emotion recognition is affected only in LTL. There is no statistical difference in neutral emotion recognition in all three types of simulated hearing loss. There are significant differences in sad, angry, and happy emotion recognition in FAC while SAC does not affect statistical differences in all emotions except in happy utterance. Fear, sad, and angry emotion recognition are statistically different in linear amplification.Conclusion: Emotion recognition reduces after hearing aid amplitude compression simulation. Statistically significant differences in emotion recognition depend on emotions such as happy, fear, angry, type of simulated hearing loss such as HTL, LTL, and flat, amplification methods such as FAC, SAC, and linear.

Background and Aim: Most sighted children spontaneously maintain an adequate degree of physical fitness during the course of normal daily activities. However, blind people are reported to be significantly below the physical fitness norms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of rock climbing on cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP), balance, body composition, and functional index in congenitally blind and sigh-ted female students.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 10 sighted and 10 blind girls aged 7-12 years were trained rock climbing for eight weeks with three sessions per week, and each session spanned 30 to 45 minutes. cVEMP latencies, dynamic/static balance, right-hand power, leg strength, and body fat percentage were recorded before and after training.Results: Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential in both blind and sighted groups did not change significantly. Dynamic balance, static balance, right-hand power, and leg strength increased significantly in both the groups (p>0.05), whereas the body fat percentage significantly decreased in both groups.Conclusion: Eight weeks of rock climbing training led to a decrease in body fat percentage and a significant increase in the functional index in sighted and blind children. This suggests that rock climbing practice can be used as a proper workout protocol for maintaining health and increasing the balance and physical strength of these individuals.

Background and Aim: Self-assessment questionnaire was developed to judge the success or failure of all aspects of the hearing aid selection and fitting process. The International outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA (is one of the most common questionnaires to quantify the satisfaction of hearing aid users and its impact on their lives. This study mainly focused on preparing a Persian version of this questionnaire and analyzing its validity and reliability.Methods: First, the original English version of the questionnaire was translated into Persian, then its content and face validity was deter-mined by expert in field and examiners. Persian IOI-HA was presented to 50 hearing aid users twice with two to three weeks interval and, the collected data were analyzed statistically. Finally, in order to evaluate the reliability of the cur-rent questionnaire, the correlations of items and paired t-test statistics for total score in test-retest was obtained.Results: The results of face validity assessment revealed that the current questionnaire has a high quality in translation, intelligibility, and cultural adaptation. Mean total score was 26.80 (SD=3.65), and the overall Cronbach’s alpha of this questionnaire was 0.73. Reliability assessment showed that the means of the total scores of the current questionnaire in test-retest have no significant difference, and the scores of the items in test-retest showed a strong correlation.Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, the Persian version of the questionnaire has a satisfactory face validity and reliability and could be used in medical centers.