The effect of occupational exposure to noise and chemical agents on hearing abilities.

Exposure to loud noise or chemical agents may cause hearing disorders such as tinnitus and recruitment, known as an increase in the perception of loudness in addition to hearing loss. Our study aims to evaluate the hearing abilities of hairdressers exposed to noise and chemical agents in the working environment. The study included one hundred hairdressers and one hundred participants who do not work as hairdressers or are nonworkers. The participants' demographic characteristics, working conditions, and auditory complaints were questioned, and each participant completed the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in speech perception, spatial perception, hearing quality, and general SSQ scores. Hairdressers' SSQ scores were significantly lower in all sub-dimensions and general scale scores (p < 0.001). The auditory complaints of the hairdressers and the low SSQ scores indicate that exposure to noise and chemical agents affects the hairdressers' hearing system.

Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Emotional Communication in Hearing Questionnaire.

PURPOSE: The Emotional Communication in Hearing Questionnaire (EMO-CHeQ) is designed to evaluate awareness of vocal emotion information and perception of emotion. This study sought to translate the EMO-CHeQ into Turkish in accordance with international standards and to ascertain its validity and reliability statistically by administering it to native Turkish-speaking subjects. METHOD: This empirical study involved collecting data from participants using a scale. A total of 460 individuals, comprising 158 women and 302 men (Mage = 33.43 ± 13.14 years), participated. The data encompassed 295 subjects with normal hearing, 101 hearing aid users, and 64 cochlear implant users. Exploratory factor analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis, was employed to ensure construct validity. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis, and content validity was applied to examine how effectively the Turkish version of the scale fulfilled its intended purpose. RESULTS: The total Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient of the scale was .949, and the explained variance was 74.385%. The Turkish version of the EMO-CHeQ demonstrated high construct validity, internal consistency, and explanatory efficacy. The scale revealed significant differences (p < .05) in emotional communication among the normal-hearing group, hearing aid users, and cochlear implant users. CONCLUSIONS: The Turkish adaptation of the EMO-CHeQ is a credible and robust tool for evaluating how individuals perceive emotion in speech. Emotion perception was found to be suboptimal among hearing aid users compared to cochlear implant users, although it was most proficient in those with normal hearing. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24520624.

A Comparison Study of Nutritional Assessment, Diet and Physical Activity Habits, Lifestyle and Socio-Demographic Characteristics in Individuals with and without Dizziness/Vertigo.

Dizziness and vertigo are growing health problems and have become responsible for increases in health expenditures. In this context, a case-control study has been conducted by nutritional assessment, including dietary and physical activity habits, lifestyle, and socio-demographic characteristics in adults with (patient group) and without (control group) dizziness or vertigo, and the outcomes were compared between these groups. The patient (n = 150) and control (n = 150) groups included 300 participants. The 24-h Dietary Recall and the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ-21) were conducted in order to gain detailed information about foods and beverages consumed by the participants. Additionally, a questionnaire was completed, assessing general socio-demographic (age, gender, etc.) and lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity) characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and dietary and physical activity habits. The results revealed that there is an association between dizziness/vertigo and female gender and increasing age. Smoking status and alcohol consumption did not differ between the groups, whereas differences in body mass index and obesity were significantly higher in the patient group (65%; n = 98) than the control group (46%; n = 69) (p = 0.001). Skipping meals "everyday" was significantly high (p = 0.044), and lunch was the most skipped meal in the patient group. The three most preferred cooking methods were oven baking, boiling, and frying for both groups. Daily water intake in the patient group was lower than in the control group (p = 0.026). Dietary intake for carotene and vitamin K were significantly lower in the patient group than the control group, but the opposite was true for vitamin D intake (p < 0.05). Daily consumption of bread and dairy products were highest in the patient group (p < 0.05). The physical activity rate was 35% (n = 53) in the control group and 28% (n = 42) in the patient group. Regular walking was the most preferred activity in both groups (p = 0.037). Active monitoring of individual diet and hydration along with supporting professional counseling are advisable. In addition, a healthy lifestyle including weight control and regular physical activity can be helpful to reduce symptoms of dizziness/vertigo.

Speech auditory brainstem response in audiological practice: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Speech-ABR is an auditory brainstem response that evaluates the integrity of the temporal and spectral coding of speech in the upper levels of the brainstem. It reflects the acoustic properties of the stimulus used and consists of seven major waves. Waves V and A represent the onset of the response; wave C transition region; D, E, and F waves periodic region (frequency following response); and wave O reflects the offset of the response. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical availability of the speech-ABR procedure through a literature review. METHODS: Literature search was conducted in Pubmed, Google Scholar, Scopus and Science Direct databases. Clinical studies of the last 15 years have been included in this review and 60 articles have been reviewed. RESULTS: As a result of the articles reviewed, it was seen that most of the studies on speech ABR were conducted with children and young people and generally focused on latency analysis measurements. Most used stimulus is the /da/ syllable. CONCLUSIONS: Speech ABR can objectively measure the auditory cues important for speech recognition and has many clinical applications. It can be used as a biomarker for auditory processing disorders, learning disorders, dyslexia, otitis media, hearing loss, language disorders and phonological disorders. S-ABR is an effective procedure that can be used in speech and language evaluations in people with hearing aids or cochlear implant. It may also be of benefit to the aging auditory system's ability to encode temporal cues.