12 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HH) are at risk of speech and language delays, which can be mitigated through early identification and intervention. Identifying hearing loss (HL) during preschool is crucial, but the most effective hearing screening method for preschoolers remains uncertain. The purpose of this study is to learn whether, compared to the gold-standard two-stage Pure-tone audiometry (PTA) + otoacoustic emissions (OAE) screening (TS-PO), single-stage OAE (SS-O) screening alone is not inferior at identifying hearing loss when performed in a community-based preschool setting. This study holds the potential to improve early hearing loss detection and intervention among D/HH children, reducing the likelihood of speech and language delays. A diverse group of 28,000 preschool-age children across community-based preschool centers will be recruited. The intervention involves all subjects undergoing both PTA and OAE screening, with the order determined through randomization. Children who show potential hearing issues based on screening results or teacher concerns will receive further testing to determine the final hearing outcome. Group allocation will be post-hoc, based on their screening results. In addition to the primary objective, the study will compare other hearing screening measures and outcomes between the two methods (TS-PO and SS-O). This approach aims to reflect the real-life effectiveness of hearing screening in a diverse population. Ultimately, the study seeks to provide insights into an optimal hearing screening method that could prevent speech and language delays among D/HH children.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate if the effects of in-person speech-language therapy with a novel digital storybook intervention platform (Hear Me Read) improves vocabulary, speech and language, and literacy outcomes in young children who are deaf or hard of hearing compared with in-person therapy alone.
Purpose: Routine clinical care and pilot study data has shown evidence of postoperative hearing preservation in pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients. The primary aim of this study is to investigate speech perception performance in pediatric CI recipients with functional pre-operative hearing. Participants: Two cohorts of CI recipients aged 6 through 17 years who had pre-operative low frequency residual hearing. Subjects in Arm 1 (EAS Arm; electric-acoustic stimulation) will present with a post-operative low frequency pure tone average (125, 250, and 500 Hz) of ≤ 75 dB HL, and those in Arm 2 (FES Arm; full-electric stimulation) will present with a post-operative low frequency pure tone average (LFPTA) that exceeds 75 dB HL. Procedures (methods): Subjects will complete speech perception and quality of life testing during post-operative intervals. Subjects in the EAS Arm will be evaluated with combined electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS). Subjects in FES Arm will be evaluated with FES alone.
The primary goal was to describe the safety of the investigational product when given monthly to prevent serious respiratory infection among children with significant heart disease.
Regeneron is conducting a study of an investigational new drug called DB-OTO. DB-OTO is a gene therapy that is being developed to treat children who have hearing loss due to changes in the otoferlin gene. The purpose of this study is to: * Learn about the safety of DB-OTO * Determine how well DB-OTO is tolerated (does not cause ongoing discomfort) * Evaluate the efficacy of DB-OTO (how well DB-OTO works)
This is an observational study to examine the characteristics of gene-related hearing loss in pediatric participants with biallelic otoferlin (OTOF) Mutations, Gap Junction Beta 2 (GJB2) Mutations, or Digenic GJB2/Gap Junction Beta 6 (GJB6) Mutations. This study will follow the participant for 4 years with annual visits each year.
The population in rural Alaska, which is predominately Alaska Native, experiences a disproportionately high burden of hearing loss compared to the general US population. The impact of untreated hearing loss in early childhood is tremendous and has grave implications for school achievement. Preschool children with hearing loss experience speech and language delays and are less likely to be ready for kindergarten than their normal-hearing peers. Early identification and treatment can reverse these ill effects. Importantly, the majority of hearing loss in this age group in rural Alaska is infection-mediated, arising from acute and chronic otitis media that is treatable. In response, preschool hearing screening is federally mandated at all Head Start centers across the country. In accordance with this mandate, hearing screening is already performed by the three organizations that offer early childhood education in the Norton Sound region: Kawerak Inc, RurAL CAP, and Bering Strait School District. While the concept of screening in this age group is well established nationally, what is less well understood is the optimal screening protocol for preschool children. There is little evidence evaluating sensitivity and specificity of different screening protocols in this age group. Further, loss to follow up in the referral stage is a problem in preschool hearing screening just as it is in school hearing screening. Alaska has already developed innovative strategies to address hearing loss. A network of village health clinics staffed by community health aides provide local care, and telemedicine has been adopted in over 250 village clinics statewide. Despite being widely available, telemedicine has not yet been used to speed up the referral process for preventive services such as hearing screening. Norton Sound Health Corporation has partnered with Duke and Johns Hopkins Universities to evaluate hearing screening and referral processes in early childhood education in the Norton Sound region of northwest Alaska. Preschool children will receive screening from the preschool and a new mHealth screening protocol. These will be compared against a benchmark audiometric assessment to determine sensitivity and specificity. Communities will then be randomized to continue the current primary care referral process or to adopt telemedicine referral. The primary outcome will be time to ICD-10 ear/hearing diagnosis. Secondary outcomes will include sensitivity and specificity of screening protocols and prevalence of hearing loss. The goal of this study is to evaluate the optimal screening and referral strategy for preschool children in rural Alaska.
Smarty Ears has developed a prototype of an innovative therapeutic training system to improve speech perception in noise by training children on interrupted noise (which has silent intervals that allow for fragments of the target to be heard). The study will attempt to validate the technology and gather initial design feedback from clinicians and caregivers and from children with ASD and HL.
Vestibular loss can co-occur with hearing loss causing dual sensory deficits. This project examines vestibular loss as a contributing factor to reading difficulties for children with hearing loss, where previously only the effects of hearing loss and subsequent language difficulties have been considered. These results are expected to influence the identification and habilitation of vestibular loss in children with hearing loss.
Cochlear implantation is performed in children with sensorineural hearing loss to restore hearing. Fifty percent of children with sensory neural hearing loss, who are candidates for cochlear implant, have vestibular (inner ear) dysfunction prior to surgery. Anatomically, the cochlea, semicircular canals, and otolith organs are located in close proximity in the inner ear and any procedure in the cochlea may affect the vestibular system, resulting in subsequent balance impairment. In addition, the process of implantation often results in further suppression of vestibular function necessary to develop normal balance. Vestibular dysfunction predisposes these children to balance impairments that can affect the normal development of gross motor skills such as sitting, standing, and walking. These balance and gross motor deficits may predispose the child to difficulties with safe community participation resulting in lower quality of life for the child and family. Evidence in the literature suggests that children with vestibular loss do not recover to the same levels as their peers, especially in the area of activities requiring vestibular input for balance. The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine balance, vestibular function, and gross motor skills in children following cochlear implantation over a period of one year. Children, ages 1 year to 5 years will be tested post cochlear implant , and at 6 and 12 months subsequent to initial testing, using clinically based tests of vestibular impairment (head impulse test, post rotary nystagmus or head shake nystagmus), balance (Pediatric Balance Scale) and gross motor skill development (Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition). Quality of life will be assessed using the Life-H (Assessment of Life Habits).
Despite being more likely than typical hearing children to experience disruptive behavior problems, children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) rarely receive behavioral interventions to prevent the long-term costly outcomes of behavior problems. This pilot project will systematically adapt an evidence-based behavioral parent training (BPT) intervention to increase its acceptability and relevance for parents of young DHH children. Two parents of DHH children will be trained in the adapted BPT for DHH children. They will each deliver the intervention to five families with DHH preschool-aged children.
Purpose: This study is a feasibility trial of an existing evidence-based behavioral parent training program with parents of preschool-aged children who were born deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). The hypotheses of this study are (a) that a randomized control trial of the Family Check Up with this population will be feasible, (b) parents will rate the intervention as acceptable, and (c) a signal of effect will be observable among intervention group parents compared to controls for the following outcome variables: child behaviors, parenting behaviors, and parenting sense of competence.