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.

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 mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between misophonia and quality of life: findings from the validated Turkish version of MisoQuest.

Introduction: Misophonia is a disorder characterized by decreased tolerance to certain sounds or their associated stimuli, and many measurement tools have been developed for its diagnosis and evaluation. The aims of the current study were to develop the Turkish version of MisoQuest, a fully validated misophonia questionnaire, to evaluate the relationships between misophonia, anxiety, and quality of life, and to examine the mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between misophonia and quality of life. Methods: The reliability of the Turkish version of MisoQuest was conducted using data from 548 participants (Mean age = 28.06 ± 9.36). Then, the relationships between misophonia, anxiety, and quality of life were evaluated in a separate sample of 117 participants (Mean age = 25.50 ± 6.31) using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Results: The results showed that the Turkish version of MisoQuest has good psychometric properties. Close-to-moderate positive correlations were found between misophonia and anxiety, and weak negative correlations were found between misophonia and quality of life. Anxiety mediated the relationships between misophonia and quality of life. Discussion: These results emphasize that misophonia may be an important problem affecting people's quality of life and reveal the mediating role of anxiety on this effect.

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).

Body Mass Index Growth Curves for Birth to 24 Months Children in Ankara with RefCurv Software

Background: It is important to monitor the development of infants and children during their growth period. Various anthropometric parameters of children are measured at regular intervals after birth, and their general health and nutrition and physiological needs are assessed based on these measurements. Aims: To construct the current body mass index (BMI) percentiles and compare them with the literature reports and World Health Organisation (WHO) data. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional research on 1,345 boys and 1,364 girls of age ranging from 0 to 24 months; their BMIs were measured at the Baskent University Hospital from January 2018-December 2021. The BMI growth curves for either gender were constructed according to the LMS method by using RefCurv 0.4.2. software. The "gamlss" package was employed for the selection of model parameters in fitting the BMI growth curves, and the model performance was evaluated with reference to the generalized Akaike information criterion (GAIC). Results: According to gender, smoothed BMI growth curves were constructed in the 3rd-97th percentiles. The model adequacy of the fitted growth curves was evaluated with the worm plot. The fit of the BMI model to the data was found to be sufficient, with 95% of the BMI values occurring between two elliptic curves. Conclusion: The study shows a slight increase in BMI percentile values obtained by gender compared to WHO standards.

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.