The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-660) offers immunity from monetary damages for peer review actions and protection for patients from incompetent physicians. Institutions may find, however, that its notice and hearing requirements are costly and offer no more than existing protections. "Deemed compliance" procedures may also ...

Recent investigations of the masking-level difference (MLD) have often involved measurement of the MLD as a function of masker level. The results show, as had earlier work, that the size of the MLD decreases as the masker level decreases. These studies have usually not considered an earlier explanation of the ...

An adult with a severe, postlingually-acquired, sensorineural, hearing loss was given 2 hours a week of training in the perception of connected discourse by lipreading, supplemented by voice fundamental frequency (Fo), encoded as locus of vibratory stimulation of the forearm. Three, 3-week blocks of training in the supplemented condition were ...

The purpose of this paper was to develop a model for preparing professional audiology personnel in a developing country (Nigeria). Professional audiologists in Nigeria are expected to provide basic and advanced audiologic services in hospitals, special schools for the hearing-impaired and to develop, conduct or supervise hearing conservation programs in ...

A community-based sanctuary for the black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra) has been established on 18 square miles of riverine forest along the Belize river, Belize. It is based on voluntary signed pledges by subsistence farmers to abide by management plans for their lands. Conservation-education programs which impact favorably on the ...

The purpose of this article is to provide some ways and means so that an audiology training program can be implemented in a developing country (Nigeria). Specific problems facing students, faculty and the training process itself are examined. Suggestions are provided to reduce these problems. In addition to mobilization of ...

A new phenomenon is reported in which a change in spatial location of the leading sound source disrupts the normal echo suppression of the precedence effect. Click trains were presented through two loudspeakers, one leading the other by a few milliseconds. When leading and lagging signals were switched, listeners heard ...

A tracking procedure that emphasizes practical coping strategies for hearing-impaired patients, along with practice in responding to other cues in the perception of connected speech, is described in detail in the course of its use with one subject. The subject's tracking scores before and after training illustrate the potential value ...

A method is proposed to predict the individual risk of hearing impairment according to age, duration of exposure to noise and daily noise equivalent level. This method is based on the model described in the ISO proposed standard 1999 "Determination of occupational noise exposure and estimation of noise-induced hearing impairment". ...

The audiometric test data of 265 employees in one facility were studied to determine group mean hearing threshold changes. The data covered seven to thirteen years. During this time the population was exposed to workplace noise (OSHA) exposures of 86 to 103 dBA. Personal hearing protection was used. Essentially no ...

More than 30 million Americans are disabled. Wide experience has shown that these conditions do not prevent these individuals from becoming proficient in the knowledge and skills of CPR. Instructional materials and methods can be modified to help this special population learn CPR despite handicaps. The American Heart Association has ...

A retrospective study of several procedures--for either treatment of vertigo or resection of acoustic neuromas--was performed to determine their effect on tinnitus. Subjective ratings of the state of tinnitus (resolution, improvement, maintenance, or deterioration) were obtained by questionnaire. Surgical procedures performed for correction of vertigo frequently alter tinnitus. In general, ...

A questionnaire assessing knowledge of hearing and hearing loss, and planned hearing conservation practices, was collected from 71 high school students before and after an educational hearing conservation program (HCP) consisting of a film, a lecture and a handout. An average increase of 16.7% correct responses from pre- to postexposure ...

The investigation incorporated a changing criterion design to demonstrate the effectiveness of a treatment program designed to increase recognition of similes by two hearing-impaired students. Results indicated that the treatment program increased the students' ability to correctly match similes and descriptive passages. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future research ...

A micro-computer based system to simulate patient performance on pure-tone audiometry has been developed, which in conjunction with a dummy audiometer allows easy development of a student training facility. The system can be easily configured to realistically and comprehensively represent a wide range of hearing losses. Students can then acquire ...

In the last twenty years it has been recognized that hearing loss as the result of middle ear infection and/or noise exposure is a major problem among Canadian Inuit. In the past ten years in the Eastern Canadian Arctic attempts have been made to alleviate the problem and physicians, audiologists ...

A series of digital computer programs which facilitate the production and control of acoustic stimuli for hearing assessment and research are described. The package, which is available for PDP 11 computers under RT-11, allows sounds to be digitized, adjusted for amplitude and/or dc offset, edited while in digital form, and ...

In a critique of the preceding articles by Valora Washington and Ura Jean Oyemade, one of the originators of Head Start points up the accomplishments of the program over the past two decades, takes note of some of its limitations, and assesses the prospects for Head Start in the current ...

Incorrect production of intonation contours is a common phonatory problem among the hearing impaired. Programs designed to remediate this problem include those that employ a systematic sequence of training steps as well as those that use sensory aids to provide visual or tactile feedback of contour production. A speech-training program ...

A modification of standard microvascular anastomosis procedure is presented, which helps in training and improves clinical technique by conservation of motion. The speed of anastomosis is at least as rapid as the posterior wall technique on which it is based, and it has the advantage of having fewer unused penetrations ...

In a general hospital, an early detection research program based on a high risk register and brain stem electric response audiometry (BERA) using click and frequency-specific stimuli identified 631 at-risk neonates from the well baby nursery and the neonatal intensive care nursery (ICN). BERA tests were done before discharge and ...

Three questionnaires were presented to 49 hearing-impaired patients. They were asked to rank different properties of behind-the-ear hearing aids with regard to their importance. The first questionnaire dealt with physical properties such as size, weight, and battery-cost, but also with the importance of good sound quality. The second questionnaire focused ...

Cooperative and individualistic learning experiences were compared in terms of their effects on interaction and relationships between hearing and hearing-impaired students. Two contradictory hypotheses were tested--one stating that the effort required for hearing and hearing-impaired students to communicate would lead to frustration, withdrawal, exclusion, and rejection; the other stating that ...

The discipline referral forms and available school records of five residential schools for the deaf were surveyed. Students were categorized as being never referred, periodically referred, and chronically referred. The student characteristics of age, sex, degree of hearing loss, and reading ability were used to predict membership in a frequency ...

More than 1,000 hearing-impaired adults who underwent hearing aid evaluations in a teaching hospital were followed for a minimum of 1 year. Questionnaires, which included over 300 clinical items, were developed for computer entry by audiological staff. This data was analyzed to obtain demographic information about the population and the ...

In 1981, a large scale reviews of the literature concerning the effects of noise on hearing was initiated by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke. This review concentrated on the information published in the decade of the 1970's and underscored the importance of evaluating the effectiveness ...

The decision to fit an induction loop system in many buildings is often dictated by cost, in particular that of the amplifier. In order to accommodate the peaks of speech the amplifier must be 4 times as powerful as that required for average speech. This often makes a profound difference ...

According to the logic of the attribution reformulation of learned helplessness, the interaction of two factors influences whether helplessness experienced in one situation will transfer to a new situation. The model predicts that people who exhibit a style of attributing negative outcomes to global factors will show helplessness deficits in ...

Earplugs is a program to allow predictive evaluation of earplugs and earmuffs. Written in Basic for the Apple II+, it is translatable into all other versions of Basic. The program allows the user to compare the attenuation capabilities of any earplug versus the environmental octave band analysis for the workplace ...

A previous study (Chandler and Fletcher, J. Aud. Res., 1983, 23, 23-32) examined group hearing loss of 209 U.S. Army engineers by comparing current with reference audiograms. The sample was categorized by military occupation specialty, age, and time on job. The present study reports comparable data for 187 civilian engineers ...

The harmful effects of exposure to high noise levels have been well-documented and include auditory and non-auditory factors. The most notable auditory effect is permanent loss of hearing, many times accompanied by the constant perception of a ringing-type noise in the ears (tinnitus). Despite this, there has been insufficient attention ...

The performance of earmuffs in the actual working environment was studied with two modified dosimeters. It was found that personal hearing protection, at least with earmuffs, is a potentially adequate method of protection against noise-induced hearing loss in most industrial working situations. Most of the problems involving the use of ...

Microscopic examination by two trained examiners, conventional impedance tympanometry by a trained audiometrist, automatic impedance tympanometry by a person with minimal training and puretone audiometry by trained audiometrists were compared in 468 ears, studied blind. There was complete examiner agreement in microscopic examination in 465 (99.3%) ears, minor disagreement in ...

Unrecognized physical defects may result in educational problems. The Guidance Branch of the Education Department in collaboration with the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research has demonstrated that screening for hearing loss in high school students in the Highlands by Guidance Branch officers is feasible. Six percent of students ...

Vocal jitter and shimmer during the sustained phonation of /a/, /i/, and /u/ were investigated for twenty adult female speakers using an automatic analysis program. The results showed overall average shimmer of 0.25 dB and overall average jitter of 0.84%. The critical value for shimmer was 0.48 dB. Significant differences ...

Psychiatric trainees and educators alike know that significant impairment may occur during training. Although psychiatry programs can do much to identify, treat, and prevent trainee impairment, barriers that may hinder programs from adequately addressing the problems of the impaired trainee continue to exist. These barriers include stigmatization and rejection of ...

Many government agencies have "constituents" who believe the agencies should hear and consider their needs and desires in establishing program priorities. This article describes how one involves interested constituents (consumers, industry, medical professionals, and state organizations) in the agency's annual priority-setting process. This participation has produced a number of beneficial ...

A program of screening hearing in schoolchildren based in part on the teacher's observations of behavioral, language, and learning problems has been initiated. Every child identified as suffering from "school pathology" is referred to the school nurse, who arranges for otolaryngologic evaluation, including a complete otologic examination and audiologic assessment ...

Otologic referral is an important component of an industrial hearing conservation program. Recent federal regulations in this area are reviewed, and suggestions for implementation of otologic referral are made. Criteria for otologic referral must be distinguished from a definition of significant threshold shift for internal program action. Test-retest variability is ...

A program to screen the hearing of newborn infants in a community hospital was instituted over a two-year period to determine if an automated program could function compatibly with a normal newborn nursery routine and still yield data as accurate as those reported in large-scale investigations done in academic medical ...

This paper describes procedures used in the development and implementation of an aural rehabilitation program for hearing-impaired elderly adults. Program emphasis is directed toward meeting the self-perceived needs of this population. Suggestions for ways to enhance the elderly adult's interest in self-management of hearing problems are gleaned from consumer workshop ...

A commnity hearing conservation program for more than 1000 senior citizens is described. Seminars about hearing loss, hearing aids were conducted. Results of hearing tests under various conditions are drawn from a population of more than 500 senior adults. Information about hearing aid use and self-awareness regarding hearing impairment was ...

An energy conservation program in the dietary department offers a means of containing costs in a health care facility. An effective program should include conservation measures which involve food service operations and equipment. Basic conservation measures are applicable in almost any dietary department. Additional information should be obtained from energy ...

We have developed and tested a portable audiosystem that will allow as many as 14 persons to listen simultaneously to pulmonary and cardiac sounds when an instructor places a central stethomicrophone on a patient's chest. This system facilitates the teaching and learning of chest auscultation on the clinical setting because ...

The airlines are a highly diversified industry. Their major concerns are in the safe transportation of passengers and cargo with on time arrival and departure of its aircraft at various locations throughout the world. The challenge the airlines face is in the development and administration of an effective hearing conservation ...

One thousand ECGs were selected from those taken from an adult population and analyzed by three cardiologists to assess the performance of the IBM Bonner-2 (V2 MO) program. The sample included 200 ECGs with 248 myocardial infarctions, 200 with conduction abnormalities, 100 with ventricular hypertrophy, 300 normals and 200 with ...

Physical, social and psychological environments have had substantial impact on the hearing efficiency of American youth. During the neonatal, preschool and school years, environmental factors such as injuries, drugs, fractures, noise, viruses and Rh incompatibility have exposed youth to auditory damage. School administrators can plan and should implement acoustical measures ...

In fiscal year 1980, the Department of Energy awarded grants for state energy conservation programs that totaled more than $400 million; the proposed figure for fiscal year 1981 is almost $600 million. Many states provide additional funds to implement conservation programs. This suggests that state governments play a major role ...

Participants in a long-term sheltered workshop program were followed up to determine their present status, their degree of symptom impairment, and their assessment of the program. The author found the rate of clients' return to work greatly exceeded the rate of rehospitalization. The study also indicated that symptom impairment was ...

Vocal shimmer during the sustained phonation of /a/, /i/, /u/ was investigated for thirty-one adult male speakers using an automatic analysis program. The results showed an overall average shimmer of 0.39 dB with a critical value of 0.98 dB. Significant correlations were found among shimmer, jitter and fo standard deviation.