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Purpose: Auditory training involves active listening to auditory stimuli. Auditory training has been reported to enhance performance in various auditory tasks, supplementing the limitation of hearing aids. The purpose of this case was to determine efficacy of 10-week auditory training for two hearing aids (HA) users even though they have used hearing aids more than 10 years but having little satisfaction on their HAs. Methods: We conducted a 10-week in-laboratory audiotory training (one session per week, about 1 hour per session). Four types of materials (environmental sounds, consonants, sentences, and crossword quiz) were used as training stimuli. Difficulty level for training was adjusted focusing on the use of an adaptive method. To examine the efficacy of the 10-week training, the recognition abilities of environmental sounds, consonants, words, and sentences were compared before and immediately after the training. As a subjective outcome, the Korean Evaluation Scale for Hearing Handicap (KESHH) questionnaire was also conducted before and after training. To examine retention of training effects, we conducted the same evaluations at 10-week, one month and seven months after the completion of training. Results: The recognition scores of all stimuli were improved immediately after 10-week training. The results of the self-reported questionnaire of KESHH demonstrated that auditory training reduced subjective handicap from impaired hearing, indicating that auditory training positively affected individual's subjective satisfaction of HA. The training efficacy appeared to be maintained even seven months after the completion of training. Conclusion: Auditory training was effective to improve recognition performance as well as the subjective satisfaction of own HA for unsatisfactory HA users.

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of tinnitus in soldiers discharged from military service and to analyze the main cause which influences the tinnitus handicap. For the participants, 295 victims of tinnitus acquired during military service were included. The subjects completed a structured questionnaire to investigate sociodemographic characteristics, tinnitus characteristics, the health effects of the condition, and tinnitus handicap. Tinnitus handicap was measured by Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the association between age, disease history, tinnitus characteristics and tinnitus handicap. Results indicated that hearing loss, otologic symptoms, the kinds, site, loudness, and health effect of tinnitus significantly related to tinnitus handicap. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, hearing loss, otologic symptoms, and loudness of tinnitus significantly affected the tinnitus handicap. The adjusted odds ratios were as follows: 4.925 (95% CI, 2.710-8.949) for those who accompanied with hearing loss, and 8.738 (95% CI 1.847-41.329) for those who have severe loudness of tinnitus compared to mild loudness of tinnitus. As tinnitus accompanying hearing loss can effect everyday life significantly, the countermeasure in reducing the exposure of the noise in military is needed.

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