Editorial

Background and Aim: One of the chronic health problems of the elderly is presbycusis, and one of the most important age-related changes in central auditory processing is dichotic listening deficit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using hearing aids on dichotic listening performance of the elderly with hearing loss by dichotic tests.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, randomized dichotic digit test (RDDT) and dichotic auditory verbal memory test (DAVMT) were performed on 20 seniors with hearing loss (8 male, 12 female) aged 65−80 years. They were divided into two groups of test (with hearing aid, n = 10) and control (without hearing aid, n = 10). They were tested before and two months after the use of hearing aid and the results were analyzed using t-test for two independent variables.
Results: There was a significant difference in the total DAVMT score in control group before and after the intervention (p < 0.001) and not in test group, but in terms of right and left ear DAVMT and RDDT scores, showed no significant difference in any groups. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the mean DAVMT score of the right ear and the mean RDDT score between groups, but in terms of the total DAVMT score, a significant difference between two groups was reported (p = 0.003).
Conclusion: It can be said that the DAVMT has the ability to show adverse effects of hearing loss on recognition function and memory of the elderly.

Background and Aim: Studies have shown that several factors affect the hearing loss of infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). These factors include hyperbilirubinemia, low birth weight, asphyxia, and prematurity. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hearing loss and its risk factors in NICU infants.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Samples were 159 infants admitted to the NICU in Fatemieh and Shahid Beheshti hospitals in Hamadan, Iran, who were selected using a convenience sampling method. Their hearing was screened using transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) and automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) tests; in case of failure in these tests, auditory brainstem response (ABR) was performed.
Results: Of 159 infants, 9 (5.66%) were identified with different types of hearing loss where 4 (2.51%) had sensory-neural hearing loss, one (0.62%) had auditory neuropathy and 4 (2.51%) had conductive hearing loss. There was a statistically significant relationship between hearing loss and birth weight < 1500 g, hyperbilirubine­mia, antibiotic therapy, family history of hearing loss, asphyxia and Apgar score < 5.
Conclusion: Prevalence of hearing loss in NICU infants is noticeable so hearing assessment after discharge is necessary. Due to the presence of auditory neuropathy, simultaneous use of TEOAE and AABR tests in these infants is recommended.

Background and Aim: Balloon eustachian tuboplasty (BET) is a recently developed and approved method for management of chronic eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). In the present study we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this method in Iranian samples.
Methods: In this prospective case-series study, we included 15 adult patients with chronic ETD who were resistant to previous medical managements and/or ventilation tube use. All patients underwent baseline audiometry (pure tone audiometry and tympanometry), Valsalva maneuver, EDT questionnaire-7 (ETDQ-7), and physical examination. Three to six months after the BET procedure, all patients underwent four evaluation methods again.
Results: We found a significant improvement in the mean ETDQ-7 scores comparing pre- and post-test scores (p < 0.0001). There was also a statistically significant decrease in the average air-bone gap from 40.55 at baseline to 27.22 after treatment (p < 0.001). In the Valsalva test, 17 out of 18 study ears (92.3%) had a positive result after the surgery. Under tympanographic evaluation, 9 ears (50%) reported a conversion from type B to type A after treatment, 2 ears (11%) had a conversion from type B to C, and 7 ears (39%) showed no any change and stayed in type B after BET.
Conclusion: As a novel method in Iran, BET can be an alternative safe treatment option for chronic ETD.

Background and Aim: Auditory stream segregation is a phenomenon that splits sounds into different streams. The temporal cues that contribute for stream segregation have been previously studied in normal hearing people. In people with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), the cues for temporal envelope coding is not usually affected, while the temporal fine structure cues are affected. These two temporal cues depend on the amplitude modulation frequency. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of sinusoidal amplitude modulated (SAM) broadband noises on stream segregation in individuals with SNHL.
Methods: Thirty normal hearing subjects and 30 subjects with mild to moderate bilateral SNHL participated in the study. Two experiments were performed; in the first experiment, the AB sequence of broadband SAM stimuli was presented, while in the second experiment, only B sequence was presented. A low (16 Hz) and a high (256 kHz) standard modulation frequency were used in these experiments. The subjects were asked to find the irregularities in the rhythmic sequence.
Results: Both the study groups could identify the irregularities similarly in both the experiments. The minimum cumulative delay was slightly higher in the SNHL group.
Conclusion: It is suggested that the temporal cues provided by the broadband SAM noises for low and high standard modulation frequencies were not used for stream segregation by either normal hearing subjects or those with SNHL.

Background and Aim: Based on neurophysiological measurements, auditory and non-auditory pathways are involved in tinnitus. People who experience tinnitus may suffer from several problems such as attention disorder. The auditory evoked potential P300 is an endogenous response and depends on cognitive processes like attention. The purpose of this study was to compare the auditory P300 characteristics (amplitude and latency) in adults with and without tinnitus.
Methods: Participants were 20 adults with idiopathic bilateral tinnitus with mean duration of 8.4 ± 4.73 months, and 20 healthy adults. The P300 was recorded using oddball paradigm consisted of two standard (1000 Hz) and target stimuli (2000 Hz). To reduce eye blink during recording, all participants was instructed to look at and fixate on a dot sign located in front of them. The tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) was completed and pitch matching (PM) and loudness matching (LM) were measured in tinnitus group.
Results: P300 amplitude was lower at both Fz and Cz electrode placements in tinnitus patients compared to the normal group, but it was not statistically significant (p = 0.57). Tinnitus patients had delayed latency at Fz and Cz, but this difference was not significant either psychometric and psychoacoustic assessment had no statistically significant correlation with P300 amplitude and latency.
Conclusion: It seems that P300 characteristics are not different between adults with and without idiopathic bilateral tinnitus, may be due to using low sample size.

Background and Aim: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is one of the complications in hemodialysis patients. Vascular access (VA) represents a lifeline for these patients affecting their life quality and clinical outcomes. Arteriovenous fistula is the gold standard of VAs with minor complications and better hemodialysis adequacy. There is no study investigating hearing differences in hemodialysis VAs. Hence, this study aimed to compare SNHL characteristics amongst hemodialysis VAs.
Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted on 64 patients aged 18−60 years received regular hemodialysis in 2019. Demographic data and comorbid conditions were recorded based on patients’ case records and electronic databases. After a physical examination, otoscopy, tympanometry, and conventional audiometry, patients were divided into fistula (n = 26), permanent catheter (n = 36), and temporary catheter (n = 2) groups according to vascular access type.
Results: Prevalence rate of SNHL was 63.89%, 50% and 50% in the permanent catheter, fistula and temporary catheter groups, respectively. Most patients had mild sloping-SNHL in the permanent catheter and fistula groups as against moderate degree in the other group. There was no significant difference in hearing thresholds, degree and audiogram shape among VA groups. No significant relation was found between age, sex, hemodialysis duration and disease duration with hearing loss in all groups (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: More patients had SNHL in permanent catheter group. Vascular access types, longer duration of hemodialysis and disease duration do not seem to be associated with SNHL. However, further investigation is needed to clarify the relationship.