Diagnosis of Hidden Hearing Loss in Adults : Refining the Audiological Profile for Better Diagnosis.

Starting soon · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Surdity, the Audiological and Electrophysiological Profile of Hidden Hearing Loss

In brief

This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of speech-in-noise difficulties in patients with normal conventional pure-tone and speech audiometry. Participants presenting with complaints of impaired speech understanding in noisy environments will undergo a comprehensive audiological assessment, including extended high-frequency audiometry, electrocochleography (EcoG), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), auditory brainstem responses (ABR), and central auditory processing evaluation. The study seeks to identify cochlear, neural, and central auditory abnormalities that may contribute to hidden hearing loss and improve its clinical characterization.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07738549

Run by

University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand

People needed

80

Starts

2026-07-01

Expected to finish

2027-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-31

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Adult patients (age > 18 years). Patients affiliated with a social security/health insurance system. Patients consulting the ENT department for hearing difficulties despite normal conventional pure-tone and speech audiometry performed in quiet.
• Patients whose native language is French. Patients who have received oral and written information about the study and have provided free and informed consent.
• Normal otoscopic examination:
• No external auditory canal obstruction. No history of middle ear surgery (except childhood tympanostomy tube placement).
• Presence of a translucent tympanic membrane in at least one quadrant, with no tympanic membrane perforation.
• No signs of active otitis infection. No signs of cholesteatoma. Well-ventilated middle ear cavity confirmed by conventional tympanometry at 226 Hz.
• Inclusion criteria for the control group:
• Adult patients aged between 18 and 25 years. Patients seen during an ENT consultation at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, without any hearing complaints.
• Patients with normal conventional pure-tone audiometry performed in quiet, defined as hearing thresholds between 0 and 20 dB HL across frequencies from 0.25 to 8 kHz, according to BIAP 2017 criteria.
• No selection bias is expected, as normal hearing is defined as hearing thresholds between 0 and 20 dB HL (BIAP 2017). This age range was selected because it provides the highest likelihood of including individuals with normal auditory function.
• Exclusion criteria :
• Patients under legal guardianship, curatorship, judicial protection, or deprived of liberty.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women. History of language disorders.
• Abnormal pure-tone audiometry in quiet, defined as:
• Mean pure-tone hearing loss > 20 dB HL, or At least one frequency threshold > 20 dB HL.
• Abnormal speech audiometry, defined as:
• Speech reception threshold on Lafon disyllabic word lists (male voice) > 20 dB HL, and/or Maximum speech intelligibility score of 100% obtained at a level > 40 dB HL. Refusal to participate in the study.

Where it is running

• CHU Clermont-Ferrand — Clermont-Ferrand, France

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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