OBJECTIVES One of the challenges facing hearing care providers when recommending hearing aids is the choice of device technology level. Major manufacturers market families of hearing aids that are described as spanning the range from basic technology to premium technology. Premium technology hearing aids include acoustical processing capabilities (features) that are not found in basic technolog...

PURPOSE The purpose of this article is to discuss 2 questions concerning how hearing aids interact with hearing and cognition: Can signal processing in hearing aids improve memory? Can attention be used for top-down control of hearing aids? METHOD Memory recall of sentences, presented at 95% correct speech recognition, was assessed with and without binary mask noise reduction. A short literat...

BACKGROUND audiological function is impaired in people with dementia and poor hearing is known to exaggerate the effects of cognitive deficits. OBJECTIVE the objective of this study was to assess the effects of increasing auditory acuity by providing hearing aids to subjects with dementia who have mild hearing loss. METHOD subjects were screened for hearing impairment and fitted with a hear...

Hearing loss is associated with poor cognitive performance and incident dementia and may contribute to cognitive decline. Treating hearing loss with hearing aids may ameliorate cognitive decline. The purpose of this study was to test whether use of hearing aids was associated with better cognitive performance, and if this relationship was mediated via social isolation and/or depression. Structu...

OBJECTIVE Hearing loss can significantly impair patient's quality of life, affecting communicative behavior, emotional and social function. This study assesses the impact of hearing aids on the quality of life of patients in a rural area and its correlation with socio-economic factors. MATERIALS-METHODS Thirty patients (18 male, 12 female), with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss of variabl...

Bone Conduction Hearing aids are used mainly for the treatment of patients who suffer from Single Sided deafness and/or Conductive/ mixed hearing loss but not Bilateral Sensorineural loss. Vibration Acoustic Stimulation is a combination both air and bone conduction at same time, four aids, two ears bilateral one aid, on defective ear single sided (SSD) Unilateral Loss. We have tried this approa...

In the British population only 20-25% of people who report hearing difficulties possess a hearing aid. We have proposed that adult hearing screening would increase the use of hearing aids. In three studies conducted in Wales between 1982 and 1992 all people aged 50-65 in four general practices were sent a screening questionnaire on hearing difficulties. Those who reported hearing problems were ...

In this study, we investigated the relation between the use of hearing aids at the initial stages of hearing loss and age-related changes in the auditory and cognitive abilities of elderly persons. 12 healthy elderly persons participated in an annual auditory and cognitive longitudinal examination for three years. According to their hearing level, they were divided into 3 subgroups - the normal...

BACKGROUND The burden of disease of hearing disorders among adults is high, but a significant part goes undetected. Screening programs in combination with the delivery of hearing aids can alleviate this situation, but the economic attractiveness of such programs is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the population-level costs, effects and cost-effectiveness of alternative delivering hearing a...

BACKGROUND/AIM Almost 200 cochlear implantations were done in the four centers (two in Belgrade, per one in Novi Sad and Nis) in Serbia from 2002 to 2009. Less than 10% of implantees were postlingually deaf adults. The vast majority, i.e. 90% were pre- and perilingually profoundly deaf children. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of improved auditory perception due to cochlear im...