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JAMA Otolaryngology-- Head & Neck... Jul 2020Utility is a single-value, preference-based measure of health-related quality of life that represents the desirability of a health state relative to being dead or in...
IMPORTANCE
Utility is a single-value, preference-based measure of health-related quality of life that represents the desirability of a health state relative to being dead or in perfect health. Clinical, funding, and policy decisions rely on measured changes in utility. The benefit of hearing loss treatments may be underestimated because existing utility measures fail to capture important changes in quality of life associated with hearing loss.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a comprehensive profile of items that describe how quality of life is associated with hearing loss and its treatments that can be used to generate hearing-related quality of life measures, including a novel utility measure.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This qualitative study, performed from August 1, 2018, to August 1, 2019, in tertiary referral centers, comprised a systematic literature review, focus groups, and semistructured interviews. The systematic review evaluated studies published from 1982 to August 1, 2018. Focus groups included 8 clinical experts experienced in the measurement, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of hearing loss. Semistructured interviews included 26 adults with hearing loss recruited from an institutional data set and outpatient hearing aid and otology clinics using stratified convenience sampling to include individuals of diverse ages, urban and rural residency, causes of hearing loss, severity of hearing loss, and treatment experience.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
A set of items and subdomains that collectively describe the association of hearing loss with health-related quality of life.
RESULTS
The literature search yielded 2779 articles from the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Forty-five studies including 1036 individuals (age range, 18-84 years) were included. The focus group included 4 audiologists and 4 otologists. Hour-long semistructured interviews were conducted with 26 individuals (13 women; median age, 54 years; range, 25-83 years) with a broad range of hearing loss causes, configurations, and severities. From all 3 sources, a total of 125 items were generated and organized into 29 subdomains derived from the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The association of hearing loss with quality of life is multidimensional and includes subdomains that are not considered in the estimation of health utility by existing utility measures. The presented comprehensive profile of items can be used to generate or evaluate measures of hearing-related quality of life, including utility measures.
Topics: Academic Success; Auditory Threshold; Communication Aids for Disabled; Focus Groups; Hearing Loss; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Interviews as Topic; Leisure Activities; Music; Qualitative Research; Quality of Life; Sound Localization; Speech Perception; Tinnitus
PubMed: 32407468
DOI: 10.1001/jamaoto.2020.0674 -
The South African Journal of... Mar 2020Literature suggests that risk factors for middle ear pathologies, such as traumatic injuries and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), exist in mines. However, studies on...
BACKGROUND
Literature suggests that risk factors for middle ear pathologies, such as traumatic injuries and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), exist in mines. However, studies on hearing health in mines seem to focus primarily on occupational noise-induced hearing loss and ignore middle ear pathologies. As a result, there is little documented evidence on the trends of middle ear pathologies in mine workers.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to explore and document published evidence reflecting trends in middle ear pathologies in mine workers.
METHOD
A systematic literature review of studies that reported middle ear pathologies in mine workers was conducted. Medline, CINAHL, PubMed, PsychInfo and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies in English published between January 1994 and December 2018 and reporting on trends in middle ear pathologies in mine workers.
RESULTS
Two research studies met the selection criteria and were included for analysis. One research study used tympanometry with 226 Hz probe tone, while another study used interviews to determine the presence of middle ear pathologies. While these studies indicate that middle ear pathologies exist in individuals working in mines, the evidence is limited.
CONCLUSION
While current data indicate that individuals working in mines may present with middle ear pathologies of varying severities, the evidence is too small to provide a clear trend of middle ear pathologies in individuals working in mines. Therefore, the current limited data suggest a need for further studies to examine middle ear pathologies in individuals working in mines.
Topics: Acoustic Impedance Tests; Ear, Middle; Hearing Loss; Humans; Miners
PubMed: 32242444
DOI: 10.4102/sajcd.v67i2.679