Hearing Handicap in Patients with Single Sided Deafness

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Hearing Handicap in Patients with Single Sided Deafness

• IRAS ID

  108402

• Contact name

  Mark Smith

• Contact email

  Mark.smith@addenbrookes.nhs.uk

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Single sided deafness (SSD) refers to asymmetrical hearing loss, where there is a significant worsening of hearing in one ear compared to the other. In Cambridge, we see large numbers of patients with SSD caused by vestibular schwannomas (a benign tumour that grows on the hearing nerve), due to our affiliation with the Neuro-Otology Department, with over 100 new SSD patients being referred every year.

  SSD can lead to:
  • Reduction in spatial hearing
  • Significant difficulty hearing in background noise and social situations
  • Exhaustion from the extra effort required to hear
  • Reduced confidence
  • Reduced ability to enjoy music
  • Isolation
  • An emotional burden linked to the onset of the hearing loss and associated symptoms

  We have established a specialised clinic to address the consequences of SSD, and assess treatment options including the provision of counselling and hearing aids design for patients with SSD called CROS (Contralateral Routing of Signal) hearing aids which have a wire connecting a hearing aid on each side of the patients head. We use a range of questionnaires completed pre and post treatment to assess outcomes and would like to analsye this data to see what drives handicap and whether there is any observable improvement post treatment. We would like to find out more about the impact of SSD on patients' ability to enjoy music and propose to do this using a questionnaire developed in-house.

  We have been awarded a grant to fit some of our patients with wireless CROS aids, which are not always routinely available under the NHS, but are widely available in other areas and in the commercial sector. We will use a cross-over design trial to investigate whether residual handicap and satisfaction are any better with these devices than with standard wired versions.

• REC name

  South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/SC/0158

• Date of REC Opinion

  7 Apr 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion