Clinical trial NCT05399264: Efficacy of Auditory Training and Combined Auditory-working-memory Training in Improving Communication in Older Adults
Official title: Efficacy of Auditory Training and Combined Auditory-working-memory Training in Improving Communication and Cognition in Older Adults With Untreated Mild-to-moderate Sensorineural Hearing Impairment
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hearing Loss
Keywords: Auditory training
Working memory
Speech perception
Older adults
Hearing loss
Lead sponsor: Education University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-06-01
Enrollment: 120
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 55
Maximum age (years): 80
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Using a randomized controlled trial, we are going to examine whether a training program that incorporates both auditory training and working memory training (AT-WMT) would generate significantly better results in communication and cognition than an auditory training program and a mindfulness training program (active-control). Participants are 120 older adults (40 per group) with untreated mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing impairment .

Detailed description: There will be three training groups: the Auditory training (AT) group, the Auditory-working memory training (AT-WMT) group, and the control group (mindfulness training). All training programs are home-delivered, non-clinician-administered, and computer-based. That is, training will be self-paced and administered by the participants themselves at home using a computer. A software program (see Figure 2) has been created to facilitate the administration of the AT and AT-WMT. All training groups will spend one hour per day and five days per week for 4 weeks.

Before the training, two baseline test sessions (T1 and T2, a maximum of one week apart) will be used to account for the test-retest effects. The same measurements will be administered again one day (T3) and three months (T4) after completion of the training.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Native Cantonese speakers and having been living in Hong Kong for at least 20 years.
* Aged between 55 and 80 years.
* Normal cognitive function, as screened with the Hong Kong version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) with a cutoff of 18/19.
* Mild-to-moderate sensorineural HI, in which the four-frequency pure-tone average at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz of the better ear is between 26 and 55 dB HL.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Outer or middle ear pathologies.
* Wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants.
* No computers and internet access at home.

Primary outcomes:
measure: The Cantonese version of the Hearing in Noise Test (CHINT) (Changes are being assessed)
timeFrame: One week before the training, one day before the training, one day after the training, three months after the training
measure: The Cantonese version of the reading span test (CRST) (Changes are being assessed)
timeFrame: One week before the training, one day before the training, one day after the training, three months after the training
Secondary outcomes:
measure: The CogState Battery (Changes are being assessed)
timeFrame: One week before the training, one day before the training, one day after the training, three months after the training
measure: The Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing scale (SSQHS) (Changes are being assessed)
timeFrame: One week before the training, one day before the training, one day after the training, three months after the training
measure: Auditory Brainstem Responses to Complex Sounds (Changes are being assessed)
timeFrame: One week before the training, one day before the training, one day after the training, three months after the training
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: The Education University of Hong Kong
name: Chen Yuan, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Wong LL, Soli SD. Development of the Cantonese Hearing In Noise Test (CHINT). Ear Hear. 2005 Jun;26(3):276-89. doi: 10.1097/00003446-200506000-00004.
citation: Anderson S, Parbery-Clark A, Yi HG, Kraus N. A neural basis of speech-in-noise perception in older adults. Ear Hear. 2011 Nov-Dec;32(6):750-7. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e31822229d3.
citation: Anderson S, Kraus N. Sensory-cognitive interaction in the neural encoding of speech in noise: a review. J Am Acad Audiol. 2010 Oct;21(9):575-85. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.21.9.3.
citation: Carroll R, Meis M, Schulte M, Vormann M, Kiessling J, Meister H. Development of a German reading span test with dual task design for application in cognitive hearing research. Int J Audiol. 2015 Feb;54(2):136-41. doi: 10.3109/14992027.2014.952458. Epub 2014 Sep 8.
citation: Zhong N, Jiang H, Wu J, Chen H, Lin S, Zhao Y, Du J, Ma X, Chen C, Gao C, Hashimoto K, Zhao M. Reliability and validity of the CogState battery Chinese language version in schizophrenia. PLoS One. 2013 Sep 2;8(9):e74258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0074258. eCollection 2013.
citation: Gatehouse S, Noble W. The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). Int J Audiol. 2004 Feb;43(2):85-99. doi: 10.1080/14992020400050014.