High Frequency ABR

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Hearing Loss, High-Frequency

Treatments: Other: No intervention

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06161857

8537

32889 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is looking at a method called 'ABR', which measures the electrical activity in the brain (brain waves) when we hear sounds. This study will look at the electrical activity in participants brains in response to high-pitched sounds. First, the investigators will find the quietest sounds the participants can hear. Then the investigators will use 'ABR' to measure the quietest sounds that trigger electrical activity in participants brains'. This is to find out if there is a difference between the quietest sounds participants can hear, and the quietest sounds that trigger these brain waves. We are also interested in finding out if having a hearing loss affects this.

Full description

The most common way of measuring how good someone's hearing is, is to play them sounds at different levels and ask them to respond when they can hear it, for example, by pressing a button when they hear a sound. However, some people such as young children and people with learning disabilities can't do this. So, we may use the ABR technique instead. However, there are usually differences between ABR thresholds (the quietest level of sound needed to trigger an electrical response in the brain) and behavioural hearing level thresholds (the quietest level sound is perceived). If we know what this difference usually is, we can use ABR to work out how good someone's hearing is. We can already do this for most of the important pitches (aka frequencies) of sound, as typically experienced in the muffled sound in telephones. But we do not know the difference between ABR and behavioural thresholds for high-pitched sounds that help make hearing crisper. So, that is what this study is trying to find out.

To do this we need people with different hearing levels to participate in our study. Including people with normal hearing and people with a hearing loss. We aim to recruit nearly 40 people in total with a range of different hearing levels.

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Participant is able and willing to give informed consent.
• Participant is over 18.
• Hearing in the test ear of ≤90dBSPL at 6 kHz and 8 kHz in PTA
• Able and willing to perform PTA reliably.
• Able and willing to sit still comfortably for the duration of an ABR.

Exclusion criteria

• Any conductive element to hearing loss (air-bone gap on PTA of >10dB).
• Occluding wax, TM perforations or ear infections (on otoscopy)
• CI or BAHA user
• Abnormal outer of middle ear

Trial design

40 participants in 4 patient groups

Normal Hearing Group

Description:

Participants with hearing levels of 20dBHL or better at 6 and 8kHz frequencies of sound

Treatment:

Other: No intervention

Mild Hearing Loss Group

Description:

Participants with hearing levels of 25-40dBHL at 6 and 8kHz frequencies of sound

Treatment:

Other: No intervention

Moderate Hearing Loss Group

Description:

Participants with hearing levels of 45-70dBHL at 6 and 8kHz frequencies of sound

Treatment:

Other: No intervention

Severe Hearing Loss Group

Description:

Participants with hearing levels of 75- 90dBHL at 6 and 8kHz frequencies of sound

Treatment:

Other: No intervention