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Audiology
Internationally Funded Research Program Improving the Efforts for Audiologic Rehabilitation
Jill E. Preminger, Ph.D.
The research program of the Audiology section in the Department of Surgery has grown substantially over the past few years with two active research programs. In addition to directing the research endeavors of the audiology students, Dr. Jill Preminger received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the efficacy of audiologic rehabilitation programs. Her NIH-funded research is entitled: "The Efficacy of Group Aural Rehabilitation Programs." More recently, Dr Preminger has been investigating the impact of hearing loss on communication partners. This was explored in two recent publications: Preminger, J.E. & Meeks, S. (2010) The influence of mood on the perception of hearing-loss related quality of life in people with hearing loss and their significant others. International Journal of Audiology, 49 (4), 263-271. And Preminger, J.E. & Meeks, S. (2010) An evaluation of an audiologic rehabilitation program for spouses of people with hearing loss. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. 21, 215- 328.
Currently Dr. Preminger is working on an international project: Ear Miles: A qualitative analysis of the patient's journey from hearing loss to audiologic rehabilitation. Researchers in four different countries: Australia, Denmark, United Kingdom and the USA are determining the barriers to hearing aid use and factors that contribute to successful hearing aid use in four different health care systems.
Clinical Research: Moving Audiology Forward
David R. Cunningham, Ph.D.
Dr. Cunningham is currently mentoring five Doctor of Audiology students' research projects. Two projects relate to audiologic services provided in underserved areas in Eastern Kentucky's Appalachian region. A number of our doctoral students have been members of volunteer teams that provide free hearing health care at the Redbird Mission in Beverly, Kentucky. The purpose of one project is to assess the effectiveness of these humanitarian services using standard outcomes measurements and patient questionnaires. The second project has the goal of installing assistive listening devices in places of worship in the Beverly community and determining the utilization and effectiveness of these technologies.
Two other students are conducting projects that seek to determine the reasons why miniature, "open fit" hearing aids are returned to the fitter and rejected by hearing-impaired patients. We have good data on hearing aid return rates for other styles of products (standard behind-the-ear and custom made in-the-ear types), but there is very little data to explain why some patients reject "open-fit" styles. Having better return rate data will help audiologists improve the outcomes for patients who use this particular product type.
One of Dr. Cunningham's doctoral students is conducting a nationwide survey to determine why some audiologists fail to use "probe-microphone" measurements during the verification stage of the hearing aid fitting protocol. There is enough research evidence to suggest that the use of this technology should now be the standard of care for patients who are fitted with hearing instruments. Despite this, a number of practitioners report that they do not routinely use probe-microphone measurements. Some site the cost of this technology, the extra time involved to complete the measurements, the limitations of the data gathered, etc. Our research will be the first national survey that compiles and analyzes audiologists' reasons for not adopting this important hearing aid fitting technology.