Dr. Allan Ho, MBBS, MSc, FRCS(ORLHNS), FRCSC,¹ Co-author: Brendan McDonald MA, MClSc, R.Aud, ²

CLINICAL TOOLS

• Abstract
• Visual Aids
• Key Points
• Clinical Pearls
• Premium Content

Abstract: Hearing loss has a profound impact on an individual. A hidden disability, hearing loss disrupts the way we communicate and ultimately limits our ability to socialize and engage with others. Hearing loss is the most common communication disorder in the older adult population. Our aim is to update readers about types of hearing loss, and to provide specific information on intervention options for conductive hearing loss. This article will address implantable hearing devices used to correct conductive loss and recent technological advances in these devices.

Key Words: hearing loss, hearing aids, bone-conduction device, hearing implant, osseointegration.

• 
• 

Any patient with a conductive hearing loss or mixed hearing loss should be referred to an otolaryngologist.

Choosing the right candidate for a bone-anchored hearing system involves a multidisciplinary approach.

Otolaryngology and audiology must work together to evaluate the best surgical and audiological candidates for these devices.

Bone conduction hearing devices are a viable option for patients with conductive and mixed hearing losses where a conventional hearing aid is not a good choice.

Assessment and patient selection for bone-conduction hearing implants require a multidisciplinary approach with otolaryngologists and audiologists. Best candidates meet criteria both surgically and audiologically.

Softband bone-conduction trials with an audiologist can be used to demo and counsel patients on the device and technology. It is non-invasive, only requiring the external processor and a specialized headband to demonstrate its function.

To have access to full article that these tools were developed for, please subscribe. The cost to subscribe is $80 USD per year and you will gain full access to all the premium content on www.healthplexus.net, an educational portal, that hosts 1000s of clinical reviews, case studies, educational visual aids and more as well as within the mobile app.

Jerome D. Schein, PhD, Professor Emeritus, New York University, New York, NY, USA; Adjunct Professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
Maurice H. Miller, PhD, Department of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, New York, NY, USA.

For persons whose hearing does not return in 60–90 days following idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL), audiologic rehabilitation should be provided. This article describes aspects of audiologic rehabilitation, including counselling, information about lifestyle changes, and techniques (such as amplification) for overcoming the communication handicap ISSNHL imposes. Advantages and limitations of various hearing aids are presented.
Key words: audiology, counselling, hearing aids, otology, rehabilitation, sensorineural, hearing loss.

Christopher J. Danner, MD, Fellow Otology/Neurotology/Skull Base Surgery and Jeffery P. Harris, MD, PhD, Departmental Chairman, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of California--San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.

Multiple factors lead to the cause and progression of presbycusis or hearing loss secondary to increased age. Noise trauma, genetic predisposition and oxidative damage all have been implicated in its development. Tinnitus, a frequent side effect of hearing loss, often has its origin within the central auditory system. A classification scheme for hearing loss and treatment options for tinnitus are discussed.
Key words: hearing loss, presbycusis, tinnitus, free radicals, central auditory system.

Among Seniors there is a High Prevalence of Hearing Loss but Low Incidence of Disclosure

Nadia Sandor, MSc
Audiologist, Mt. Sinai Hospital

Elderly listeners often have difficulties with their hearing in typical, everyday situations. For example, they may fail to hear faint sounds, especially in an area with a great deal of background noise. They may also have difficulty ascertaining the direction from which a sound is coming--for instance, determining whether the telephone is ringing in the kitchen or whether the ringing is coming from a television program.¹ Finally, they may have trouble distinguishing between or understanding persons talking in a restaurant or at the dinner table. Moreover, these difficulties with hearing become more apparent and more debilitating when the listening environment is more complex (such as at a large noisy gathering in a highly reverberant room).¹

Hearing loss starts as early as the third or fourth decade of life, and it is well known that both its incidence and prevalence increase with advancing age.² Auditory deficits, which differ from hearing loss in that they encompass hearing threshold changes and changes in temporal and spectral resolution, also increase markedly with age, beginning in the fourth decade. Hearing loss has been identified as the most prevalent chronic disability among older adults, exceeded only by arthritis and hypertension.