The team, composed of investigators from clinical audiology, ear surgery and general otolaryngology, was led by co-first author Andie DeFreese, AuD, a clinical audiologist and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt Health.
“The purpose of our study was to understand the genetic architecture of sensorineural hearing loss,” DeFreese said. “Long term, we want to be able to identify our patients with hearing loss before it ever emerges.”
Diagnostic codes miss hearing loss nuances
As with any sensory condition that involves a patient’s subjective perception, understanding the specifics of a given case of hearing loss can present a challenge. While physiological measurements exist to characterize hearing loss, audiologists also benefit from attempting to understand the subtle details of a given patient’s experience.