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Characterizing Variability in Hearing Aid Outcomes in Among Older Adults With Alzheimer's Dementia

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
50 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

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.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Speak English as their primary language 2. Normal or corrected to normal vision (20/40 binocular vision or unaided using a Snellen chart) 3. 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 4. 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) 5. Diagnosis of dementia Alzheimer's type or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (minimum MoCA score of 18). 6. Living at home 7. Minimum Grade 10 education 8. Able to provide own consent as evaluated by the Consent Assessment. Exclusion Criteria: 1. 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 2. 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 3. Positive history of major psychiatric disorder (e.g. schizophrenia, significant untreated depression) 4. Co-enrolled in other intervention studies targeting hearing, language, or communication strategies 5. Conductive hearing loss pathology, congenital hearing loss, or fluctuating hearing loss 6. Current active hearing aid wearer (defined as wearing hearing aid(s) at least 4 hours a day for most days within the past year)

Study sites (2)

IL