Deafness

Bottom line
Some, not all, direct-to-consumer (DTC) self-fitted hearing aids are likely comparable to audiogram-fitted conventional hearing aids and tend to cost less.

Author/s:

Émélie Braschi, Samantha S Moe

Hearing Loss in Children

Brian Desmarais — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 15:16:05 +0000

Date Added:

December 8, 2020

Journal/Publication:

JAMA Network

Publication Date:

December 1, 2020

Issue:

Volume:

324

Pages:

2195-2205

URL:

Hearing Loss in Children

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

doi:10.1001/jama.2020.17647

MeSH

child

Hearing Loss

Deafness

A review of the causes, consequences, and management of hearing loss in children. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Importance Hearing loss in children is common and by age 18 years, affects nearly 1 of every 5 children. Without hearing rehabilitation, hearing loss can cause detrimental effects on speech, language, developmental, educational, and cognitive outcomes in children.

Observations Consequences of hearing loss in children include worse outcomes in speech, language, education, social functioning, cognitive abilities, and quality of life. Hearing loss can be congenital, delayed onset, or acquired with possible etiologies including congenital infections, genetic causes including syndromic and nonsyndromic etiologies, and trauma, among others. Evaluation of hearing loss must be based on suspected diagnosis, type, laterality and degree of hearing loss, age of onset, and additional variables such as exposure to cranial irradiation. Hearing rehabilitation for children with hearing loss may include use of hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone anchored devices, or use of assistive devices such as frequency modulating systems.

Conclusions and Relevance Hearing loss in children is common, and there has been substantial progress in diagnosis and management of these cases. Early identification of hearing loss and understanding its etiology can assist with prognosis and counseling of families. In addition, awareness of treatment strategies including the many hearing device options, cochlear implant, and assistive devices can help direct management of the patient to optimize outcomes.

Author/s:

Lieu, J.E.C., Kenna, M., Anne, S.

Tinnitus

John Bayhi — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 21:17:31 +0000

Date Added:

March 23, 2020

Journal/Publication:

JAMA

Publisher:

American Medical Association

Publication Date:

March 16, 2020

URL:

Tinnitus

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1001/jama.2020.0697

Keywords

tinnitus

hearing loss

noise

PMID (1):

32176246

MeSH

A nice review of what we currently know about tinnitus. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Tinnitus is an auditory perception in the absence of an auditory stimulus. It may be associated with acoustic trauma (eg, exposure to loud noise), chronic hearing loss, emotional stressors, or spontaneous occurrence. The psychopathological reaction to the perceived auditory stimulus is an enormous source of distress and disability for many patients with tinnitus. National health surveys estimate that nearly 10 in 100 adults experience some form of tinnitus. Among workers exposed to occupational noise, the prevalence of tinnitus is 15 per 100. Of these, tinnitus is burdensome and chronic for roughly 20 million and extreme and debilitating tinnitus for 2 million US residents. Many patients with tinnitus report that the auditory perception impairs sleep, concentration, and cognitive function required for day-to-day functioning. Among the nearly 4.5 million US military veterans receiving service-connected compensation, 42% receive compensation for tinnitus, which makes it the most prevalent service-connected disability. The number of veterans who receive compensation due to tinnitus is nearly 60% greater than the number of veterans who receive compensation for hearing loss, which is the condition with the second most disability claims.

Author/s:

Piccirillo, JF, Rodebaugh, TL, Lenze, EJ