Current Research Projects
Use of the Updated PHAST-Rv2 to Identify Which Tasks Hearing Aid Users Have Difficulty Performing
The Practical Hearing Skills Test-Revised (PHAST-R) is used to measure a hearing aid user’s ability to perform basic hearing aid use and care functions (Desjardins & Doherty, 2009). The test was recently updated (PHAST-R v2) to include advancements in hearing aid technology. The purpose of this study is to use the PHAST-R v2 to identify the specific hearing aid functions clients have difficulty performing and therefore, need further counseling on. Second, the consistency between how audiologists judged hearing aid users’ performance on the PHAST-R hearing aid tasks was assessed.
Benefits of Hearing Aid Training for Healthcare Workers Who Care For Older Adults
Many older adults use hearing aids but typically the healthcare workers and/or personal care aides (PCAs) who work with them do not receive hearing aid training. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the benefit of using an in-person hearing aid training program for healthcare workers and PCAs who care for older adults.
Early Intervention of Age Related Hearing Loss
Hearing impairment affects more than 28 million Americans, and is the third most prevalent chronic disease affecting seniors. The negative effects of age on a person’s hearing begins in the third decade of life and increases significantly after 50 years of age. Because of its gradual onset, hearing loss in its early stages is difficult to perceive. However, even when people are aware that their hearing has deteriorated they are often reluctant to seek help. It’s been shown that untreated hearing loss can have a negative impact on a person’s quality of life and long-term hearing loss can lead to neurophysiological deterioration. Much of the research in this area has focused on older people. Thus, relatively little is known about the extent to which hearing aids can serve to minimize the sensory, cognitive, and social consequences of early age-related hearing loss and auditory deprivation. The purpose of this study is to assess if wearing hearing aids during the early stages of age-related hearing loss can improve speech recognition and recognition memory in middle aged and younger older adults. Their project entitled “Benefits of Amplification for Early Age-Related Hearing Loss” is being funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIA) through the Center for Aging and Policy Studies.
(Grant # P30AG034464 (2009 – 2014))
Effects of Age-Related Auditory & Cognitive Changes on Speech Understanding in Noise
Currently, most commercially available digital hearing aids incorporate a digital noise reduction (NR) algorithm to improve a hearing impaired listener’s speech understanding in noise. However, NR algorithms have failed to show much benefit in actually improving listeners’ ability to understand noisy speech. Yet, hearing aid users frequently report that they prefer NR because it makes it easier for them to listen to speech in the presence of background noise. Thus, while NR may not improve a listener’s speech intelligibility score, it may reduce the cognitive load of listening to speech in noise. The purpose of this study is to objectively measure the cognitive demands of understanding speech in interfering background noise in older listeners with hearing impairment. In addition, we will evaluate how effective a NR algorithm in a commercial hearing aid is in reducing older hearing impaired listeners’ cognitive effort on a speech in noise task.
Cited by The Hearing Journal as one of the best papers published in…
Aural Rehabilitation (2009)
Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K.A. (2009). Do experienced hearing aid users know how to use their hearing aids correctly? The American Journal of Audiology, 18, 69-76.
Hearing Aids (2007)
Shi, L. F., Doherty, K. A., Kordas, T. M., & Pellegrino, J. T. (2007). Short- and Long-Term Hearing-Aid Benefit and User Satisfaction: A Comparison between Two Fitting Protocols. Journal of American Academy of Audiology, 18 (6), 482-495.
Hearing Science (1998)
Huckins, S.C., Turner, C.W., Doherty, K.A., Fonte, M.M. & Szeverenyi, N.M. (1998). Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of blood flow patterns in human auditory cortex in response to speech. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 41, 538-548.
Recent Publications
(*denotes student co-author mentored in my lab)
*Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2023). An Evaluation of a Proposed Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Model of Hearing Healthcare. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology,
*Alicea C. & Doherty, K.A. (2021). Targeted Re-Instruction for Hearing Aid Use and Care Skills. American Journal of Audiology, 30(3):590-601.
*Alicea C. & Doherty, K.A. (2021). Targeted Re-Instruction for Hearing Aid Use and Care Skills. American Journal of Audiology,
*Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2020). Use of a Mild-Gain Hearing Aid by Middle-Aged Normal-Hearing Adults Who Do and Do Not Self-Report Trouble Hearing in Background Noise. American Journal of Audiology, 30, 1-10
Desjardins, J. L. Alicea C, Doherty KA. (2019). The effect of memory span and manual dexterity on hearing aid handling skills in new and experienced hearing aid users. American Journal of Audiology. Vol. 28 (1), 37-47. American Journal of Audiology, Advance online publication.doi:10.1044/2018
Doherty, K. A. & Desjardins, J. L. (2017). The benefit of amplification on auditory working memory function in middle-aged and young-older hearing-impaired adults. In M. Rudner and C. Signoret (Eds.), The Role of Working Memory and Executive Function in Communication under Adverse Conditions [E-reader version]. Retrieved from http://frontiersin.org/books/b/900
* Alicea, C. & Doherty, K.A. (2017) Motivation to Address Self-Reported Hearing Problems in Adults with Normal-Hearing Thresholds, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 60, 3642- 3655.
Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2017). Changes in Psychosocial Measures after a Six Week Field Trial with Hearing Aids. American Journal of Audiology. Vol. 26, 119-128.
*Calandruccio, L. Buss, E. & Doherty, K.A. (2016). The effects of presentation level on spectral weights for sentences. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 139 (1):466-494.
Mao. J., Koch, K.J., Doherty, K.A. & Carney, L.H. (2015). Cues for Diotic and Dichotic Detection of a 500-Hz Tone in Noise Vary with Hearing Loss. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. Vol. 16, 507–521.
Doherty KA and Desjardins JL (2015). The benefit of amplification on auditory working memory function in middle-aged and young-older hearing-impaired adults. Frontiers in Psychology. 6:721. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00721
Bochner, J.H., Garrison, W.M. & Doherty, K.A. (2015). The NTID Speech Recognition Test: NSRT. International Journal of Audiology, Vol 54(7):490-498.
*Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2014). The effect of hearing aid noise reduction on listening effort in older hearing-impaired adults. Ear and Hearing. Vol. 35 (6), 600-610.
Doherty, K. A. (2014). The impact of hearing loss on listening effort and fatigue. Ear and Hearing Vol. 35, (6), 591.
*Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2013). Age-related changes in listening effort for various types of masker noises. Ear and Hearing. Vol. 34, (3), 261 – 272.
*Doherty, K. A. & Desjardins, J. L. (2012). The Practical Hearing Aids Skills Test Revised (PHAST-R). American Journal of Audiology, Vol. 21, 100 – 105.
*Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2009). Do experienced hearing aid users know how to correctly use their hearing aids? American Journal of Audiology, 8, 1 – 8.
- Highlighted and reviewed in a French health magazine—Benoit, A. (January, 2010). Comment améliorer l’utilisation des aides auditives. Audio infos, 143, 54 –
- Cited by The Hearing Journal Special Issue: A Guide to the Year’s Best Reading in Audiology (June 2009) as one of the best audiologic rehabilitation papers published in 2009.
Recent Presentations
Merrifield, M., Kennedy, K., Kordas, T.M., and Doherty, K.A. (2024). Use of the Updated PHAST-Rv2 to Identify Which Tasks Hearing Aid Users Have Difficulty Performing. Poster Presentation at the American Academy of Audiology Annual Conference. Atlanta, GA.
Merrifield, M. & Doherty, K.A. (2024). Assessment of Hearing Aid Training for Healthcare Workers. Poster Presentation at the American Auditory Society Conference. Scottsdale, AZ.
Merrifield, M. & Doherty, K.A. (2023). Benefits of Hearing Aid Training for Healthcare Workers and Personal Care Aides Who Work With Older Adults. Poster Presentation at the American Speech Language Hearing Association Conference, Boston, MA.
Merrifield, M. & Doherty, K.A. (2023) Benefits and Challenges of Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) for Older Hospital Patients. Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Institute, Boston, MA.
Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2021). Factors related to self-identification of candidacy, device selection, and self-fitting of over-the-counter hearing aids. Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Institute, Durham, NC.
Dilaj, K, Doherty, K.A. & Alicea, C. (2021). Audiologic Rehabilitation: Using Technology to Maximize Outcomes. American Academy of Audiology Annual Meeting,
Singh, J., & Doherty, K.A. (2020). Can the average consumer navigate the over-the-counter hearing aid model? Poster Presentation at the American Auditory Society Conference. Scottsdale, AZ.
Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2019). Use of a mild-gain hearing aid for normal-hearing adults. Canadian Academy of Audiology Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Poster Blitz Award)
Alicea, C. & Doherty, K.A. (2018). Targeted re-instruction for hearing aid use & care skills American Speech- Language-Hearing Association Annual Conference, Boston MA.
Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2018). Use of Amplification for Normal Hearing Adults in Background Noise. Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.
Alicea, C. & Doherty, K.A. (2018). Targeted re-instruction for hearing aid use and care skills. Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.
Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2017). Mild Gain for Normal-Hearing Adults with Difficulty in Background Noise. American Auditory Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ.
Alicea, C. C Singh, J. & Doherty, K.A. (2016). Variation in & Accuracy of Hearing Aid Adjustments Prescribed by Four Manufacturers’ Troubleshooting Software. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Singh, J., Maldonado, C. C. & Doherty, K.A. (2016). Inaccuracy of Hearing Aid Software Adjustments. AudiologyNOW Annual Conference, Phoenix, Arizona.
Maldonado, C. C. & Doherty, K.A. (2015). Difficulty hearing during the early stages of age-related hearing loss and motivation to take action. National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research Conference: Hearing Loss as a Public Health Concern. Portland, OR.
Maldonado, C. C. & Doherty, K.A. (2015). Motivation for change during early stages of hearing loss. American Auditory Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ.
Maldonado, C. C. & Doherty, K.A. (2015). Early age-related changes in high frequency hearing thresholds, hearing handicap, and motivation to take action. New York State Speech Language Hearing Association, Saratoga, NY.
O’Flaherty, S., Doherty, K., Desjardins, J. (2013). The effect of hearing aids on memory test scores. New York State Speech Language Hearing Association, Saratoga, NY.
Doherty, K.A., Morgan, A., Kordas, T., Kelley, R. & Isaacson, G. (2013). Hearing Healthcare in Ethiopia. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Conference, Chicago, Il.
Doherty, K. A. & Desjardins, J. L. (2013). Advantages of using amplification for early age-related hearing loss. American Auditory Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ.
Mao, J., Doherty, K. A., Koch, K. J. & Carney, L. H. (2013). Effects of sensorineural hearing loss on roving-level tone-in-noise detection. American Auditory Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ.
Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2013). Reducing listening effort in background noise with hearing aids. American Auditory Society Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ.
Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2012). Objective verification of hearing aid users’ ability to use and care for their hearing aids. Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology Institute, Providence, RI.
Doherty, K. A., Desjardins, J. L. & Hoyer, W. J. (2012). Effect of hearing aids on cognitive function, hearing handicap, and attitudes toward wearing hearing aids in the early stages of
age-related hearing loss. International Adult Hearing Screening Conference, Cernobbio, Italy.
Doherty, K. A., Bochner, J., Garrison, W., Richards, G., Holstad, K. & Sims, D. (2012). An adaptive test for the clinical measurement of speech recognition. American Academy of Audiology Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
Desjardins, J. L. & Doherty, K. A. (2012). The effect of hearing aid noise reduction on listening effort in older adults. American Academy of Audiology Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
Doherty, K. A., Desjardins, J. L., Pellegrino J., Kordas, T., & Kennedy, K. (2011). Are your clients incorrectly using their hearing aids? American Academy of Audiology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Doherty, K. A., Fasulo, E., MacNeil, C., Pacioles, T., Tablang, M., Mark, K. & Brangman, S.(2011). Older hospital patients’ use of assistive listening devices. American Academy of Audiology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Doctoral Dissertations in the Hearing Lab
Singh, J. Factors related to self-identification of candidacy, device selection, and self-fitting of over-the-counter hearing aids (2020). Dissertations- Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database.
Alicea, Carly Catherine, “Targeted Re-Instruction for Hearing Aid Use and Care Skills” (2018). Dissertations – ALL. 951. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/951
Desjardins, J. L., “Age-related changes in listening effort for various types of masker noises” (2011). Communication Sciences and Disorders—Dissertations and Theses. http://surface.syr.edu/csd_etd/14
- Awarded the Doctoral Prize, Excellence in Research at the Graduate Level, College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University (2011).
Calandruccio, L., “Spectral weighting strategies for sentences measured by a correlational method” (2007). Communication Sciences and Disorders—Dissertations and Theses. http://surface.syr.edu/csd_etd/2
- Awarded the Doctoral Prize, Excellence in Research at the Graduate Level, College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University (2007).
Shi, L. F., “Effect of dynamic compression characteristics on aided perception of reverberant speech” (2006). Communication Sciences and Disorders—Dissertations and Theses. http://surface.syr.edu/csd_etd/3
Grants
Research in this lab has been funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, National Organization of Hearing Research, Deafness Research Foundation, Gerber Funds, the Schneller Fund, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Capita Foundation.