Can hockey playoffs harm your hearing?
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Alberta↗
Biomedical subjects
William E Hodgetts
Publications and source records attributed to William E Hodgetts.
Effects of applied contact force and volume control setting on output force levels of the BAHA Softband.
The BAHA Softband has been developed to provide a transcutaneous anchor for a BAHA until a child is a surgical candidate for the percutaneous BAHA implant. We tested the objective output force level of the BAHA Classic 300 and Compact connected to a Softband on an artificial mastoid to determine: (1) the effects of direct contact force on output force levels (dB); and (2) the required volume control setting to ensure audibility of speech (assuming an average adult reference equivalent threshold force level). Direct contact force was varied from 2 to 5 N in 1 N steps. Output force level increased with increasing contact force. However, the average increase was 3 dB or lower, suggesting that the contact force is of minor importance. Volume control setting appears to be of much greater importance. It is suggested that the volume setting of either device be set to at least 2.5 to ensure audibility of conversational speech. Data from normal-hearing adults with simulated conductive hearing losses are presented to validate this conclusion.
Adult↗
Consensus statements on the BAHA system: where do we stand at present?
After more than 25 years of clinical experience, the BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) system is a well-established treatment for hearing-impaired patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss. Owing to its success, the use of the BAHA system has spread and the indications for application have gradually become broader. New indications, as well as clinical applications, were discussed during scientific roundtable meetings in 2004 by experts in the field, and the outcomes of these discussions are presented in the form of statements. The issues that were discussed concerned BAHA surgery, the fitting range of the BAHA system, the BAHA system compared to conventional devices, bilateral application, the BAHA system in children, the BAHA system in patients with single-sided deafness, and, finally, the BAHA system in patients with unilateral conductive hearing loss.
Adult↗
Speech intelligibility of young school-aged children in the presence of real-life classroom noise.
We examined the ability of 40 young children (aged five to eight) to understand speech (monosyllables, spondees, trochees, and trisyllables) when listening in a background of real-life classroom noise. All children had some difficulty understanding speech when the noise was at levels found in many classrooms (i.e., 65 dBA). However, at an intermediate (-6 dB SNR) level, kindergarten and grade 1 children had much more difficulty than did older children. All children performed well in quiet, with results being comparable to or slightly better than those reported in previous studies, suggesting that the task was age appropriate and well understood. These results suggest that the youngest children in the school system, whose classrooms also tend to be among the noisiest, are the most susceptible to the effects of noise.
Acoustics↗