The only exclusion criteria for enrollment into the Betula study were dementia, mental retardation, serious visual or auditory handicaps, not having Swedish as a mother tongue or any other feature that would have compromised the ability to comply with the study.
There is a high risk for long term neurological sequelae such as cerebral palsy, psychomotor retardation, and visual or auditory handicaps leading to long-term healthcare costs [ 1, 2].
Despite the above, there was a lack of consensus whether self-reported questionnaires for assessing aspects of auditory disability, auditory handicap, and improvements in hearing ability (i.e., GHABP, COSI) are a good predictor of hearing aid benefit for a mild hearing loss.
These studies include validated instruments like the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) and the (modified) Amsterdam Inventory Auditory Disability and Handicap Score [ 6, 8].
These were, in chronological order, questions on demographics (age, gender, educational level, living arrangements, number of children), the internet-based hearing screening, the rhyming test, the Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability and Handicap (AIAD), 11 the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI), 19 as well as questions regarding use of hearing aids, tinnitus and hyperacusis.
More motor, auditory and visceral handicaps were reported by LV individuals.
Patients with central nervous system disease, psychiatric disease, use of tranquilizers or antipsychotic drugs, drug abuse, visual, auditory or motor handicap, lacking knowledge of the German language or illiteracy were excluded from the study.
Adult male and female members of the community that met the following criteria: (a) interest in participating in an intensive training program focused on holistic gerontological development; (b) 60 to 74 years old; (c) literate; (d) absence of handicapping illnesses or serious visual or auditory disabilities; (e) leadership attributes and the ability to coordinate small groups.
The requirements for participating in training courses for GPs are as follows: (i) interest in participating in an intensive training program focused on holistic gerontological development; (ii) 60-74 years of age; (iii) literate; (iv) absence of handicapping illnesses or serious visual or auditory disabilities, and (v) leadership attributes and the ability to coordinate small groups.
However, our preceding narrative synthesis of the quality assessment concluded that this evidence is not of sufficient quality to be confident that auditory training represents a strategy for improving the percept and severity or handicap of tinnitus.
The two more recent studies by the same group [ 32, 44] confirmed significant effects of auditory discrimination training in terms of a 9.4- and 7.4-point reduction in tinnitus handicap inventory score, respectively.
