Background and Aim: Prevalence of noise-induced tinnitus is approximately twice as high among military personnel and veterans as in the general population. So they appear to have poorer quality of life. Many forms of sound therapy have been applied to reduce the effects of subjective tinnitus. This study aimed to investigate the effect of binaural beat stimulation on the annoyance of tinnitus in military personnel with the experience of acoustic trauma-induced tinnitus. Methods: This study was conducted on 60 men with mean(SD) age 38.30(6.12) years individuals suffering from chronic tinnitus. They were randomly assigned to either the experimental group who were exposed to an audio file with an embedded binaural beat in the alpha frequency range or the control group who were supposed to merely listen to their favorite music without any included beat stimulation. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) were used as outcome measures to collect the data after a period of one month. Results: There were statistically significant differences (score decrease) between the two study groups after intervention in terms of THI (p<0.05) and THQ total score (p<0.05) and the subscales involving emotional effects of tinnitus. Conclusion: Binaural beat stimulation in the alpha frequency range has the potential of inducing some positive effects on subjective feelings of chronic tinnitus sufferers. Keywords: Tinnitus; binaural beat stimulation; tinnitus handicap inventory; tinnitus handicap questionnaire

Background and Aim: Cochlear implants (CIs) can lead to the development of verbal communication in areas such as sound repertoire, speech intelligibility (SI), and conversational skills. The SI refers to the ability to make recognizable speech sounds. Children with CIs may experience poorer SI than normal- hearing (NH) children. This study aims to compare the SI between children with CIs and NH peers matched for chronological age and hearing age. Methods: The speech samples of 40 monolingual Persian-speaking children, including 20 children with CIs and 20 NH children were used in this study. The children’s SI was analyzed using three measures of the percentage of correct consonants, percentage of correct vowels, and percentage of intelligible words. One speech-language pathologist and two non-professional listeners transcribed each speech sample. Results: The results showed no significant difference in any measures of SI between CI children and NH hearing age-matched peers, but there was a significant difference between CI children and NH chronological age-matched peers (p<0.05). Conclusion: The SI in Persian-speaking children with CIs is the same as in NH hearing age-matched peers, but it was poorer compared to NH chronological age-matched peers. If the children with hearing impairments receive CIs sooner, their SI can be greater. Cochlear implantation improves SI by increasing the hearing experience. Keywords: Speech intelligibility; percentage of correct consonants; percentage of correct vowels; percentage of intelligible words; cochlear implant; hearing age

Background and Aim: Background noise as a serious challenge mainly affects the speech perception in people with hearing loss. One of the methods used to control noise is digital noise reduction (DNR) technique. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of DNR program (activated and deactivated) on the frequency gain of basic and advanced behind-the-ear (BTE) Oticon hearing aids, using different DNR strategies to reduce background noise. Methods: Two behind-the-ear Oticon hearing aids (Opn1 S105 and GetP) were used in this study. The Affinity 2.0 test box was first used to measure their DNR (off/on) gains using the national acoustic laboratories-non linear2 (NAL-NL2) and desired sensation level multi-stage [input/output] (DSLm[I/O]) formulas at sound pressure levels of 45, 65 and 85 dB SPL at a frequency range of 250-8000 Hz for three hearing loss (HL) patterns using the international speech test signal and broad band noise. Results: There was a significant difference in DNR performance between the Opn1 S105 and GetP models for all three HL patterns at 45 and 65 dB SPL and most frequencies. Conclusion: The DNR performance of advanced and basic hearing aids is different for different HLs at 45 and 65 dB SPL and most frequencies. The performance of advanced hearing aids is significant using the DSLm[I/O] formula at most frequencies. Keywords: Digital noise reduction; international speech test signal; frequency response; broad band noise

Background and Aim: Ischemic injury is a major cause of hearing loss and oxidative stress is an important part of ischemic injury. The goal of this study was to evaluate the cochlear oxidative stress effect on auditory responses in male rats. Methods: Cochlear oxidative stress was induced by bilateral carotid artery occlusion for 20 minutes. The rats were evaluated by biochemical inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α] and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the day before and 1st, 4th, and 7th days following surgery. The auditory brainstem response (ABR) and electrocochleography (ECochG) were evaluated on the day before surgery and 14th, 21th and 28th days after surgery. Results: TNF-α and CRP levels concentrations increased one day after ischemia and subsequently decreased on the 7th day. The click and tone burst evoked ABR showed increased thresholds on day14th, 21th, and 28th. The highest threshold was recorded on day14th. The ECochG results also were abnormal for 55%, 70%, and 45% of cases on day 14th, 21th, and 28th, respectively. Conclusion: Cochlear oxidative stress affects hearing sensitivity. The ABR shows elevated thresholds and abnormal ECochG was found in many cases.

Background and Aim: Hearing loss in children leads to speech and language delays, low academic achievement, literacy delays, and psychosocial difficulties. Screening instrument for targeting educational risk (SIFTER) is one of the questionnaires used for evaluation of students’ performance in schools. The current study aims to develop Persian versions of primary and secondary SIFTER questionnaires and assessing their validity and reliability. Methods: The main English versions of primary and secondary SIFTER questionnaires were translated into Persian named as P-SIFTER and secondary P-SIFTER. Then, their face validities were determined based on the options of related experts. The final versions were completed by 55 teachers of 150 students (64 primary and 86 secondary school students) divided into two groups of hearing-impaired (HI) and normal-hearing (NH) students. The test- retest reliabilities were assessed in 117 students (64 primary and 53 secondary school students). Results: The results revealed that these questionnaires had high face validity. The content validity index for P-SIFTER and secondary P-SIFTER were obtained 0.94 and 0.92, respectively. The total score of P-SIFTER was 51.85 and 65.41 in HI and NH students, respectively. For the secondary P-SIFTER, it was 58.75 and 67.48, respectively. The test-retest reliability showed high correlation for NH and HI students between P-SIFTER and secondary P-SIFTER scores. The Cronbach’s alpha value for the overall score of P-SIFTER was 0.96 for both HI and NH students; for secondary P-SIFTER, the values were 0.94 and 0.93, respectively. Conclusion: The Persian versions of primary and secondary SIFTER questionnaires have acceptable validity and reliability.

Background and Aim: Musical training has shown to bring about superior performance in several auditory and non-auditory tasks compared to those without musical exposure. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) input-output function can be an indicator of the non-linear functioning of the cochlea. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the differences in the slope of DPOAE input-output function in individuals with and without musical abilities. Methods: Twenty normal-hearing individuals were considered in the age range of 18–25 years. They were divided based on the scores obtained on the questionnaire of musical abilities, as individuals with and without musical abilities. DPOAE input-output function was done for each of the two groups. The slope of the DPOAE input-output function was compared at different frequencies between the groups. Results: The results of the Mann Whitney test revealed that the slope was significantly steeper at 2000, 3000, 4000 and 6000 Hz in individuals with musical abilities. There was no significant difference in slope at 1000 and 1500 Hz. Conclusion: The increased steepness of the slope indicates a relatively better functioning of the cochlea in individuals with musical abilities. The enhanced perception of music may induce changes in the cochlea resulting in a better appreciation of music.

Background and Aim: A rare fungal infection, mucormycosis, has become more common in patients recovering from COVID in its second wave in India. The proximity and easy access to the middle ear through the Eustachian tube from paranasal sinuses alarms the need for early detec­tion of middle ear involvement. Hence, the study was carried out to determine the influence of mucormycosis on Immittance and otoacoustic emissions. Methods: eleven rhino orbital mucormycosis patients aged 40-60 years participated in the study. Middle ear evaluation was carried out with the help of Immittance and otoacoustic emissi­ons. Results: It was found that 4/11 (36.36%) parti­cipants had abnormal Immittance and absent oto­acoustic emissions, indicating middle ear dys­function. 3/4 participants had middle ear dys­function in the ear ipsilateral to the side of the infection. Conclusion: The study results reveal a rare cha­nce of middle ear involvement in mucormycosis patients, which calls for the crucial role of the audiologist in the early detection of middle ear dysfunction. Keywords: Mucormycosis; immittance; otoacoustic emissions

Background and Aim: Subjective tinnitus is a phantom auditory perception caused by different factors and affects the patient’s quality of life. The tinnitus pathophysiology is not fully unders­tood; therefore, there is no effective treatment for tinnitus. Along with other methods, auditory evo­ked potentials (AEPs) may be helpful in unders­tanding this condition and the involved struc­tures. This study aimed to review the applications of AEPs in tinnitus studies. Recent Findings: The studies investigating tinnitus were categorized into three groups of tinnitus pathophysiology, pre- or post-treatment/intervention evaluation of tinnitus, and objective diagnosis of tinnitus. Contradictory and unrep­eatable findings were observed in each group. Conclusion: Discrepancies in the results of AEPs studies can be due to between-group and within-group differences, lack of proper match­ing in terms of tinnitus etiology and hearing loss, and difference in neurophysiologic models of tinnitus.

Background and Aim: Evaluating the effective­ness of vestibular rehabilitation (VR) in patients with vestibular lesions has always been a challe­nge. The questionnaires that are used for this pur­pose mostly show the degree of vestibular dis­ability rather than providing information about improvement of vestibular dysfunction. This study aimed to evaluate whether video head imp­ulse test (vHIT) that is used for the examination of vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), is a useful method for predicting the effectiveness of VR and has a correlation with dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) score.
 Methods: Participants were 42 patients with unilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction (UPVH) undergoing VR. Patients were assessed before and after rehabilitation by the vHIT in all ipsilesional and contralesional semicircular can­als (SCCs) and the DHI. The changes in DHI score and VOR gain before and after rehabili­tation, were shown as ΔDHI and ΔVOR and their correlation was evaluated.
 Results: VOR gain from ipsilesional and contra­lesional SCCs was improved significantly after VR. There was a significant strong negative correlation between ΔVOR gain from ipsile­sional SCCs and ΔDHI score but no significant correlation was found between the ΔDHI score and ΔVOR gain from contralesional SCCs.
 Conclusion: vHIT test is a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of VR. VOR gain is correlated with the DHI score. Therefore, the improvement in vHIT results in all three SCCs after VR may be a good predictor of the degree of improvement in dizziness-related disability.
 Keywords: Vestibular rehabilitation; follow-up; unilateral vestibular hypofunction; video head impulse test; dizziness handicap inventory

Background and Aim: Parents' evaluation of aural/oral performance of children (PEACH) and teachers' evaluation of aural/oral performance of children (TEACH) questionnaires are used to assess the behaviors of hearing-impaired children in real-life situations. This study aims to compare the scores of PEACH and TEACH in children with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using hearing aids. Methods: This is a double-blind two-period crossover study on 21 children aged 9-72 months with severe-to-profound SNHL using hearing aids. There were two 6-week periods of fitting Phonak Naida Venture SP hearing aids using the fifth version of the Desired Sensation Level (DSL v5) and the National Acoustics Laborato­ries’ nonlinear fitting procedure (NAL-NL2) pre­scriptions. At the end of each trial, the PEACH and TEACH questioners were completed through an interview with the parents and teachers, res­pectively. Results: There was a strong correlation between the PEACH and TEACH in total and subscale scores. There was no significant difference bet­ween the results of DSL v5 and the NAL-NL2 prescriptions for the total score and subscale scores of PEACH and TEACH. Conclusion: The PEACH score has a strong correlation with the TEACH score. These ques­tionnaires are useful tools for indirectly assess­ment of hearing-impaired children’s communi­cation skills. The DSL v5 and the NAL-NL2 prescriptions make no significant difference in the performance of children with severe-to-profound SNHL. Keywords: Aural oral performance; questionnaire; children; parents; hearing loss; functional performance