• Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.242-249
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• 2018

Objectives. Smoking is associated with hearing loss, while the correlation between tinnitus and smoking is not fully elucidated. This study aimed to evaluate risk factors of tinnitus in adolescents in terms of smoking, and we identified a rectifiable parameter that can be serially monitored. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, with 2,782 participants aged 12 to 18 years, from 2008 through 2011. Participants with history of ear disease, hearing loss, and inadequate responses to questionnaires were excluded. We investigated the prevalence of tinnitus and tinnitus-related annoyance by questionnaire and sought potential risk factors in blood and urine tests and smoking history. Results. The prevalence of tinnitus in the 12- to 18-year-old population was 17.5%, with 3.3% reporting tinnitus-related annoyance. On univariate analysis, the prevalence of tinnitus increased with age (P<0.001) and was higher among girls (P=0.012). Blood tests and urinalysis showed significant correlation between tinnitus and red blood cell count, alkaline phosphatase levels, and urine cotinine (P=0.002, P<0.001, P=0.018, respectively). In multivariate analysis, the urine cotinine level was the only parameter associated with tinnitus (odds ratio, 1.000; 95% confidence interval, 0.999 to 1.000; P=0.038). Smoking was also significantly correlated with tinnitus (P=0.043), and amount of smoking with tinnitus-related annoyance (P=0.045). However, current smoking and past smoking were not correlated with tinnitus. Conclusion. Urine cotinine may be a rectifiable marker for management of tinnitus in adolescents. This suggests that smoking cessation should be incorporated in the management of tinnitus in adolescents.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: The current study investigates pitch coding using frequency following response (FFR) among vocalists, violinists, and non-musicians for Indian Carnatic transition music stimuli and assesses whether their listening biographies strengthen their F0 neural encoding for these stimuli. Subjects and Methods: Three participant groups in the age range of 18-45 years were included in the study. The first group of participants consisted of 20 trained Carnatic vocalists, the second group consisted of 13 trained violinists, and the third group consisted of 22 non-musicians. The stimuli consisted of three Indian Carnatic raga notes (/S-R2-G3/), which was sung by a trained vocalist and played by a trained violinist. For the purposes of this study, the two transitions between the notes T1=/S-R2/ and T2=/R2-G3/ were analyzed, and FFRs were recorded binaurally at 80 dB SPL using neuroscan equipment. Results: Overall average responses of the participants were generated. To assess the participants' pitch tracking to the Carnatic music stimuli, stimulus to response correlation (CC), pitch strength (PS), and pitch error (PE) were measured. Results revealed that both the vocalists and violinists had better CC and PS values with lower PE values, as compared to non-musicians, for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Between the musician groups, the vocalists were found to perform superiorly to the violinists for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Conclusions: Listening biographies strengthened F0 neural coding, with respect to the vocalists for vocal stimulus at the brainstem level. The violinists, on the other hand, did not show such preference.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: The current study investigates pitch coding using frequency following response (FFR) among vocalists, violinists, and non-musicians for Indian Carnatic transition music stimuli and assesses whether their listening biographies strengthen their F0 neural encoding for these stimuli. Subjects and Methods: Three participant groups in the age range of 18-45 years were included in the study. The first group of participants consisted of 20 trained Carnatic vocalists, the second group consisted of 13 trained violinists, and the third group consisted of 22 non-musicians. The stimuli consisted of three Indian Carnatic raga notes (/S-R2-G3/), which was sung by a trained vocalist and played by a trained violinist. For the purposes of this study, the two transitions between the notes T1=/S-R2/ and T2=/R2-G3/ were analyzed, and FFRs were recorded binaurally at 80 dB SPL using neuroscan equipment. Results: Overall average responses of the participants were generated. To assess the participants' pitch tracking to the Carnatic music stimuli, stimulus to response correlation (CC), pitch strength (PS), and pitch error (PE) were measured. Results revealed that both the vocalists and violinists had better CC and PS values with lower PE values, as compared to non-musicians, for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Between the musician groups, the vocalists were found to perform superiorly to the violinists for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Conclusions: Listening biographies strengthened F0 neural coding, with respect to the vocalists for vocal stimulus at the brainstem level. The violinists, on the other hand, did not show such preference.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.389-404
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• 2019

The present study aims to examine the relationship between self-reported sensory impairment and cognitive function among older adults in Korea. Drawn from the 2017 Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs Korean Older Persons, a total of 10,082 adults aged 65 and over were included in analyses. Results from hierarchial multiple regression analysis show that those who reported greater subjective discomfort about vision, hearing, and oral function were more likely to have poor cognitive function. Results from hierarchial logistic regression analysis show. Results from logistic regression analysis show that having hearing and oral discomfort increased the a risk for dementia. Findings suggest that it is necessary to manage sensory function of the elderly at the government level and to develop self-evaluation tools to monitor changes in sensory function for older adults. Future research should target finding effective ways to improve health of older adults.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.307-314
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• 2008

Objectives : We conducted an epidemiologic survey to evaluate the effect of the aircraft noise exposure on the health of the residents near the military airbases in Pyeongtaek City. Methods : The evaluation of environmental noise level, questionnaire survey, and health examination were performed for 917 residents. The study population consisted of four groups: subjects who lived in the village close to the fighter airbase (high exposure), subjects who lived along the course of fighters (intermediate exposure), and subjects near a helicopter airbase, and the control group. Results : The prevalence of the aircraft noise related accident and irritable bowel syndrome in the exposure groups were higher than that of the control group. The risks of noise induced hearing loss, hypertension and diabetes mellitus were higher in the exposed groups than in the control group. The prevalence of anxiety disorder and primary insomnia were higher in the exposed groups than in the control group. Prevalence odd ratios of the risk for primary insomnia after adjusting age, sex, agricultural noise, and occupation were 4.03 [95% confidence interval (95% Cl) 1.56-10.47] for the subject near the helicopter airbase, 1.23 (95% Cl 0.40-3.76) for those intermediately exposed to fighter noise, and 4.99 (95% Cl 2.14-11.64) for those highly exposed to fighter noise. Conclusions : The results of the present study suggest that the aircraft noise may have adverse effects on hearing function, cardiovascular health and mental health. Therefore, it seems to be needed to take proper measures including the control of the aircraft noise and the management of the exposed people's health.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.207-216
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• 1997

This study was conducted to investigate the communicative intent between Reactive Attachment Disorder(RAD) and Developmental Language Disorder(DLD). The subject of this study were 20 27-51 monthold children(10 RAD Children, 10 DLD children) functioning at similar stage of language development. The communicative intent was investigated vertical and horizontal dimension. Rating of vertical communicative intent was based on the assessment scales devised by Wetherby and Prutting(1984). Horizontal dimension was measured by the assessment guidelines of Wetherby and Prizant(1989). All the data were rated by two rators independantly. 1) In communicative intent, vertical development level of DLD children was more sophiscated than that of RAD children. 2) DLD children expressed more horizontal communicative intent than RAD children. The percentage of the three major categories(behavioral regulation, social interaction, and joint attention) of communicative intent in DLD children was lined up social interaction>joint attention>behavioral regulation. On the contrary, RAD children displayed in order of behavioral regulation>social interaction>joint attention. In addition, DLD children showed diversely as compared with RAD children.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.150-162
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• 2023

Meniere's disease is characterized by episodic vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus and ear fullness. The main pathological finding is endolymphatic hydrops, but the etiology of disease and effective treatment methods are still disputed. Recently, Cervical spine disorders(CSD) and Temporomandibular disorders(TMD) have been attracting attention as one of the causes of Meniere's disease. A 65-year-old female Meniere patient with musculoskeletal problems in the cervical and mandible area was treated by Korean medical therapies including pharmacoacupuncture treatment. After 5 weeks of treatment, there was no meaningful change in hearing level evaluated with pure tone audiometry, but the subjective symptoms of Meniere improved significantly. Numerical rating scale (NRS) decreased from 10 to 0 for hearing loss, 10 to 3 for tinnitus and 8 to 3 for ear fullness. Also NRS of cervicalgia was reduced from 5 to 0 after treatment. The result suggests that the Korean medical therapy including pharmacoapuncture targeting CSD and TMD could be safe and effective method for patients with Meniere's disease.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.38.1-38.10
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• 2023

Background: Hearing loss (HL) is linked to an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The pathogeneses of HL and CVD commonly involve inflammatory responses. Previous studies investigated elevated levels of inflammatory biomarkers in subjects with HL, however, their findings did not demonstrate statistical significance. In our cross-sectional and longitudinal study, we investigated the correlation between HL and increased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels to determine how HL is associated with CVDs. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with workers aged over 18 years who underwent health check-ups at our institution between 2012 and 2018 (n = 566,507), followed by conducting a longitudinal study of workers aged > 18 who underwent health checkups at least twice at our institution between 2012 and 2018 (n = 173,794). The definition of HL was as an average threshold of ≥ 20 dB in pure-tone air conduction at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kHz in both ears. The incidence of increased hsCRP levels throughout the follow-up period was defined as a level exceeding 3 mg/L. Logistic regression and generalized estimating equations were performed to estimate the risk of increased hsCRP levels according to the occurrence of HL in groups stratified by age. Results: In the cross-sectional study, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.34); the OR was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.80-1.22) in those under 40 and 1.28 (1.08-1.53) in those over 40. In the longitudinal study, the multivariable-adjusted OR was 1.05 (95% CI: 0.92-1.19); the OR was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.90-1.35) in those under 40 and 1.20 (1.01-1.43) in those over 40. Conclusions: This cross-sectional and longitudinal study identified an association between HL and increased hsCRP levels in workers aged over 40 years.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: The present study aims to investigate whether the cochlear implant electrode array design affects the electrophysiological and psychophysical measures. Subjects and Methods: Eighty five ears were used as data in this retrospective study. They were divided into two groups by the electrode array design: lateral wall type (LW) and perimodiolar type (PM). The electrode site was divided into three regions (basal, medial, apical). The evoked compound action potential (ECAP) threshold, T level, C level, dynamic range (DR), and aided air conduction threshold were measured. Results: The ECAP threshold was lower for the PM than for the LW, and decreased as the electrode site was closer to the apical region. The T level was lower for the PM than for the LW, and was lower on the apical region than on the other regions. The C level on the basal region was lower for the PM than for the LW whereas the C level was lower on the apical region than on the other regions. The DRs on the apical region was greater for the PM than for the LW whereas the DR was narrower on the apical region than on the other regions. The aided air conduction threshold was not different for the electrode design and frequency. Conclusions: The current study would support the advantages of the PM over the LW in that the PM had the lower current level and greater DR, which could result in more localized neural stimulation and reduced power consumption.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: The present study aims to investigate whether the cochlear implant electrode array design affects the electrophysiological and psychophysical measures. Subjects and Methods: Eighty five ears were used as data in this retrospective study. They were divided into two groups by the electrode array design: lateral wall type (LW) and perimodiolar type (PM). The electrode site was divided into three regions (basal, medial, apical). The evoked compound action potential (ECAP) threshold, T level, C level, dynamic range (DR), and aided air conduction threshold were measured. Results: The ECAP threshold was lower for the PM than for the LW, and decreased as the electrode site was closer to the apical region. The T level was lower for the PM than for the LW, and was lower on the apical region than on the other regions. The C level on the basal region was lower for the PM than for the LW whereas the C level was lower on the apical region than on the other regions. The DRs on the apical region was greater for the PM than for the LW whereas the DR was narrower on the apical region than on the other regions. The aided air conduction threshold was not different for the electrode design and frequency. Conclusions: The current study would support the advantages of the PM over the LW in that the PM had the lower current level and greater DR, which could result in more localized neural stimulation and reduced power consumption.