The Audiology Core focuses on integrating hearing measures into large epidemiologic cohort studies around the globe. 

Led by Nicholas Reed, AuD, PhD, the Cochlear Center Audiology Core supports Center work that spans any aspect of audiology including hearing measurement, hearing device use, and hearing care. This includes developing customized protocols, training staff, and offering study support and ongoing quality assurance.

The Audiology Core has integrated hearing measures into the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, the BIOCARD Study, the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the National Health Aging and Trends Study, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, and the Longitudinal Aging Study in India.

In our first five years, we estimate that the Cochlear Center Audiology Core has been directly responsible for hearing measures in over 30,000 individuals across research studies with longitudinal measures on approximately 8,000 individuals.

Are you interested in incorporating assessments of hearing into your clinical or epidemiological research study?  Contact Clarice Myers, AuD, assistant faculty audiologist at AudiologyCore@jhu.edu.

Audiology Core can help you ….  

Choose the right hearing measure. 

Hearing measures can range from simple self-report measures to detailed objective measures with pure-tone audiometry and speech tests. 

It’s vital to consider what the hearing measurement is truly assessing with respect to hearing and communicative function, the sensitivity and accuracy of the measurement, time requirements for testing, equipment costs, space and environment factors, calibration schedules, staff training time, and the exposure and outcome of interest.

Be sure your hearing measure is sensitive enough. 

Self-report binary (yes or no) measures have been found to be inaccurate or insensitive to detecting hearing loss. Using subjective questions with ordinal scales that include different degrees of hearing loss and account for demographic information such as age, race, and sex can greatly improve the sensitivity of such simple measures when compared to gold-standard audiometry. 

Assure the quality of your data and training.

Beyond the equipment and protocol selection, quality is assured via training, continuous data monitoring, and routine equipment upkeep. Comprehensive staff training with skills assessment at multiple time points for certification is key to study success. Regular data monitoring can detect abnormalities in the audiometric data based on population and biologic norms, which may reveal issues in protocol adherence and/or equipment malfunction.