Characterizing Variability in Hearing Aid Outcomes in Among Older Adults With Alzheimer's Dementia
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age50-90
SponsorNorthwestern University
About this trial
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.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Speak English as their primary language
Normal or corrected to normal vision (20/40 binocular vision or unaided using a Snellen chart)
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
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)
Disqualifiers
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
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
Positive history of major psychiatric disorder (e.g. schizophrenia, significant untreated depression)
Co-enrolled in other intervention studies targeting hearing, language, or communication strategies
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- High level of signal manipulation
- Low level of signal manipulation
Treatment groups
20 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsSponsors and collaborators
Northwestern University
Lead sponsor
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov