RECRUITING

Characterizing Variability in Hearing Aid Outcomes in Among Older Adults with Alzheimer's Dementia

Study Overview

This clinical trial focuses on testing the efficacy of different digital interventions to promote re-engagement in cancer-related long-term follow-up care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer.

Description

This current translational project, funded by NIH, aims to better understand the impact of various signal modification strategies for older adults with Alzheimer's dementia and its potential precursor, known as amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The investigators hypothesize that adults with Alzheimer's dementia represent an extreme case of restricted cognitive ability, such that very low working memory capacity and overall reduced cognitive capacity will limit benefit from advanced signal processing. Thus, the investigators hypothesize that adults with Alzheimer's dementia will receive greater benefit from acoustically simple, high-fidelity hearing aid processing that minimally alters the acoustic signal.

Official Title

Characterizing Variability in Hearing Aid Outcomes in Among Older Adults with Alzheimer's Dementia

Quick Facts

Study Start:2021-07-01
Study Completion:2025-04-30
Study Type:Not specified
Phase:Not Applicable
Enrollment:Not specified
Status:RECRUITING

Study ID

NCT04240561

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Ages Eligible for Study:50 Years to 90 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:No
Standard Ages:ADULT, OLDER_ADULT
Inclusion CriteriaExclusion Criteria
  1. 1. Speak English as their primary language
  2. 2. Normal or corrected to normal vision (20/40 binocular vision or unaided using a Snellen chart)
  3. 3. Sensorineural hearing loss with pure-tone thresholds 25-70 dB HL at octave frequencies between 500 and 3000 Hz and a 4 frequency (.5, 1, 2, 3 kHz) pure-tone average of greater than or equal to 30 dB in each ear
  4. 4. Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) of 0.5 or 1 (indicating slight or mild cognitive impairment in the areas of memory, orientation, judgment/problem solving, community affairs, behavior at home/hobbies, and personal care)
  5. 5. Diagnosis of dementia Alzheimer's type or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (minimum MoCA score of 18).
  6. 6. Living at home
  7. 7. Minimum Grade 10 education
  8. 8. Able to provide own consent as evaluated by the Consent Assessment.
  1. 1. Clinically significant unstable or progressive medical conditions, or conditions which, in the opinion of the investigator(s) places the participant at unacceptable risk if he or she were to participate in the study
  2. 2. History of unresolved communication difficulties following another neurological problem (e.g. stroke or brain tumor), neurodevelopmental disorder (e.g. Down's syndrome), or head/neck cancer
  3. 3. Positive history of major psychiatric disorder (e.g. schizophrenia, significant untreated depression)
  4. 4. Co-enrolled in other intervention studies targeting hearing, language, or communication strategies
  5. 5. Conductive hearing loss pathology, congenital hearing loss, or fluctuating hearing loss
  6. 6. Current active hearing aid wearer (defined as wearing hearing aid(s) at least 4 hours a day for most days within the past year)

Contacts and Locations

Study Contact

Kendra Marks, Au.D.
CONTACT
847-467-0897
kendra.marks@northwestern.edu

Principal Investigator

Pam Souza, PhD
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Northwestern University

Study Locations (Sites)

Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, 60611
United States
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois, 60208
United States

Collaborators and Investigators

Sponsor: Northwestern University

  • Pam Souza, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Northwestern University

Study Record Dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates

Study Start Date2021-07-01
Study Completion Date2025-04-30

Study Record Updates

Study Start Date2021-07-01
Study Completion Date2025-04-30

Terms related to this study

Keywords Provided by Researchers

  • mild cognitive impairment

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

  • Hearing Loss, Sensorineural
  • Dementia of Alzheimer Type
  • Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment