Recreational music exposure and hearing health in young adults.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare daily and total recreational music exposure levels and extended-spectrum audiogram results in young adults without pre-existing hearing problems. DESIGN: The study included healthy volunteers aged 18-25 with no known ear disease or hearing loss. Participants completed a questionnaire, underwent otoscopic and tympanometric examinations, and determined preferred music volumes in an audiometry booth using calibrated music samples of their preferred genres. Hearing thresholds up to 16 kiloHertz (kHz) were measured. Daily music exposure for each participant was normalized to 8 h to calculate a time-weighted average of 8 h (TWA8). Total exposure (TE) was calculated by multiplying TWA8 by the number of years of music listening. RESULTS: A total of 32.4% of participants had TWA8s above 65 dB. Their hearing thresholds at 125, 250, 500, and 16,000 Hz and the average of 125 Hz-8 kHz were significantly higher. Participants with TWA8s above 65 dB were also more prone to speaking loudly and experiencing communication difficulties on the phone. Those with a TE of more than 400 experienced significantly more speech discrimination difficulty in noisy environments and temporary hearing loss/tinnitus after exposure to loud music. Participants with a TE above 700 had worse thresholds at 4, 14, and 16 kHz frequencies, as well as 125-8000 Hz and 500-4000 Hz averages compared to those with a TE below 700. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that recreational music with much lower exposure levels than the universally accepted TWA8 of 85 dB could negatively impact hearing in healthy young adults. Therefore, maintaining a maximum TWA8 of 65 dB is recommended.

Hearing Loss Related to Gene Mutations in Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis.

INTRODUCTION: Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) is a disease that may develop either primarily or secondarily, resulting from urinary acidification defects in distal tubules. Hearing loss may accompany primary forms of dRTA. This study aims to determine the characteristics of hearing loss due to different gene mutations in patients with dRTA. METHODS: Behavioral and electrophysiological audiological evaluations were performed after otolaryngology examination in 21 patients with clinically diagnosed dRTA. Radiological imaging of the inner ear (n = 9) was conducted and results of genetic analyses using next-generation sequencing method (n = 16) were included. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients with dRTA from 20 unrelated families, aged between 8 months and 33 years (median = 12, interquartile range = 20), participated. All patients with ATP6V1B1 mutations (n = 9) had different degrees of hearing loss. There was one patient with hearing loss in patients with ATP6V0A4 mutations (n = 6). One patient with the WDR72 mutation had normal hearing. Large vestibular aqueduct syndrome (LVAS) was detected in 6 (67%) of 9 patients whose radiological evaluation results were available. CONCLUSIONS: LVAS is common in patients with dRTA and may influence the type and severity of hearing loss in these patients. The possibility of both congenital and late-onset and progressive hearing loss should be considered in dRTA patients. A regular audiological follow-up is essential for the early detection of a possible late-onset or progressive hearing loss in these patients.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Nijmegen cochlear implant questionnaire into Turkish language: validity, reliability and effects of demographic variables.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (Tr-NCIQ) and reveal the demographic factors contributing to the outcomes. METHODS: A group of 118 cochlear implant users aged between 18 and 70 years filled the Tr-NCIQ and the Turkish Hearing Handicapped Inventory for Adults (the Tr-HHI-Adult) via electronic survey. Cross-cultural adaptation of the Tr-NCIQ was performed. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were evaluated utilizing internal consistency coefficient, split-half method, and predictive validity. RESULTS: The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.91, and the Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.91. A moderately significant and negative correlation was present between the basic sound perception, speech production, self-esteem, activity, and social interactions subdomain scores and the HHI-Adult scores. Patients with post-lingual onset of hearing loss had significantly better results than those with pre-lingual onset, in the advanced sound perception subdomain. In addition, bilateral cochlear implant users had better results than the unilateral and bimodal users in the speech production subdomain and then the bimodal users in the self-esteem subdomain. There was no effect of age, duration of implant use, age at implantation, and the daily usage of cochlear implant (CI) on the quality-of-life outcomes. CONCLUSION: The Tr-NCIQ is a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the subjective quality of life in CI users. In addition, as a standardized instrument, it can be easily self-administered both in clinical practice and for research purposes.

Investigation of cochlear microphonics recorded with different stimulus types.

BACKGROUND: Electrocochleography (ECochG), one of the first defined tests under auditory evoked potentials, is a total electrical response of inner and outer hair cells inside the cochlea and auditory nerve record technique to the presence of an acoustic stimulus. These records can be used in Meniere disease and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder diagnosis, intraoperative monitoring. In addition, the presence of cochlear microphonics plays a crucial role in auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder diagnosis. In our study, healthy individuals were tested with extratimpanic electrocochleography record method via Click and LS CE-Chirp stimulus, and the results were compared to the age, sex, and noise sensitivity categories. METHODS: This study had executed at Baskent University, Faculty of Health Sciences Audiology laboratory. The study group consisted of 42 volunteers between 18 and 40 years old. To understand the suitability of volunteers, pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, and transient otoacoustic emission tests were performed. Individuals with no hearing loss were tested with 100 dBnHL intensity level via click and LS CE-Chirp stimulus. The obtained values were statistically evaluated in the SPSS 23.0 program in accordance with the data distribution. An independent sample t-test was used for data showing normal distribution, and Mann-Whitney U test was used for data not showing normal distribution. The level (p < 0.05) was considered statistically significant for all analyses performed. RESULTS: Cochlear microphonic amplitudes recorded with click and LS CE-Chirp stimuli were higher in males than in females (p = 0.051 and p = 0.001, respectively). When the age groups were evaluated, no difference was observed in the CM amplitudes obtained with both click and LS CE-Chirp stimuli. There was no correlation between age and CM amplitudes. Additionally, it was determined that the CM amplitudes recorded with the click stimulus in individuals with noise sensitivity were higher than those without noise sensitivity (p = 0.051). DISCUSSION: It is thought that the ECochG amplitudes of different gender, different age, and different noise sensitivity, which are the results of our study, can be used in the diagnosis of diseases such as auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.

The effects of adaptive directional microphone on auditory evoked cortical P300 response and speech performance in cochlear implant users.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible benefits of an adaptive directional microphone in noise by using auditory P300 and speech recognition scores (SRSs) in cochlear implant subjects.Design: The P300 and speech recognition scores were obtained (a) in quiet with an omnidirectional microphone (Quiet OM), (b) in noise with an omnidirectional microphone (Noise OM) and (c) in noise with an adaptive directional microphone (Noise BEAM) to compare the microphone effects.Study sample: Thirty-five cochlear implant subjects (22.87 ± 1.30 years)Results: The latencies of the P2, N2 and P3 responses as the discrimination potentials were significantly prolonged in the Noise OM condition compared with those obtained in the Quiet OM and Noise BEAM conditions (p < 0.05). The latencies of all responses in the Quiet OM and Noise BEAM conditions were similarly obtained (p > 0.05). SRSs were significantly lower in the Noise OM condition than in the Quiet OM and Noise BEAM condition (p < 0.05).Conclusions: During noise, the adaptive directional microphone system provided a discrimination ability similar to that seen in quiet settings for cochlear implant users.

Subcortical Auditory Processing and Speech Perception in Noise Among Individuals With and Without Extended High-Frequency Hearing Loss.

PURPOSE: The significance of extended high-frequency (EHF) hearing (> 8 kHz) is not well understood so far. In this study, we aimed to understand the relationship between EHF hearing loss (EHFHL) and speech perception in noise (SPIN) and the associated physiological signatures using the speech-evoked frequency-following response (sFFR). METHOD: Sixteen young adults with EHFHL and 16 age- and sex-matched individuals with normal hearing participated in the study. SPIN performance in right speech-right noise, left speech-left noise, and binaural listening conditions was evaluated using the Turkish Matrix Test. Additionally, subcortical auditory processing was assessed by recording sFFRs elicited by 40-ms /da/ stimuli. RESULTS: Individuals with EHFHL demonstrated poorer SPIN performances in all listening conditions (p < .01). Longer latencies were observed in the V (onset) and O (offset) peaks in these individuals (p ≤ .01). However, only the V/A peak amplitude was found to be significantly reduced in individuals with EHFHL (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of EHF hearing and suggest that EHF hearing should be considered among the key elements in SPIN. Individuals with EHFHL show a tendency toward weaker subcortical auditory processing, which likely contributes to their poorer SPIN performance. Thus, routine assessment of EHF hearing should be implemented in clinical settings, alongside the evaluation of standard audiometric frequencies (0.25-8 kHz).

Determination of a cutoff for noise sensitivity: Psychometric evaluation of the Turkish Noise Sensitivity Questionnaire (Tr-NoiSeQ).

Context: There is a need for a clear cutoff to use noise sensitivity (NS) scale as a prediagnostic tool in research and clinical use. Aims: : Noise sensitivity questionnaire (NoiSeQ) was adapted into Turkish language (Tr-NoiSeQ); validity and reliability of the Tr-NoiSeQ were assessed. The cutoff for the Tr-NoiSeQ was determined. Settings and design: : A descriptive study within subject design. Materials and methods: A group of 402 participants aged between 18 and 52 years filled the Tr-NoiSeQ and the Turkish version of Weinstein noise sensitivity scale (Tr-WNSS) via internet. Statistical analysis used: Cronbach alpha (α) and the Spearman‒Brown coefficient were calculated for the reliability; Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for the validity. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to calculate cutoff value of the Tr-NoiSeQ. Results: For the Tr-NoiSeQ, Cronbach α was 0.92, Spearman‒Brown coefficient was 0.93 (P < 0.05). A high significant correlation between the Tr-WNSS and the Tr-NoiSeQ was obtained (r = 0.76, P < 0.05). The fit indexes of the model were obtained as (χ2 = 1361.06, df = 546, P < 0.001), χ2 / df = 2.49, root mean square error of approximation = 0.06, comparative fit index = 0.83, goodness of fit index = 0.82. The ROC curve showed that the cutoff for the Tr-NoiSeQ was 53 with a 0.92 sensitivity and a 0.85 specificity (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The Tr-NoiSeQ is a valid and reliable tool for use in both clinical practice and research. The Tr-NoiSeQ seems to be consistent with the Tr-WNSS and can be used as a screening tool to evaluate NS in audiology.