Lieu Lab

Photo of Dr. Lieu performing an otoscopic exam on young patient

Principal Investigator:
Judith Lieu, MD, MSPH, Associate Professor, Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery

Overview

Our current research focuses on the effects and consequences of hearing loss in children, especially unilateral hearing loss (hearing loss in one ear). She uses clinical epidemiology research methods, and collaborates with colleagues in neuroscience, psychology, and auditory science to investigate speech-language, cognition, educational effects, executive functioning, and quality-of-life in children with hearing loss. She hopes to identify factors that can lead to targeted earlier intervention and possibly better educational performance or language skills acquisition in the future. Our current research areas include:

  • Development and Validation of Preschool HEAR-QL Questionnaire
  • Hearing Loss and Cognition
  • Unilateral hearing loss and MRI study

Research Projects

Current Research Projects Actively Recruiting

Development and Validation of the Preschool HEAR-QL
We are currently looking for the parents of young children ages 2 to 6 years old who have hearing loss in one or both ears. Previous focus groups and semi-structured interviews helped in developing questions/statements and themes that are important in the quality-of-life questionnaire for young children, but we are currently in the process of validating the questionnaire. We hope that this survey will be able to inform us of how hearing loss affects the quality of life in young, preschool-aged children, and we hope it helps to evaluate how well treatments for hearing loss work. (American Otological Society)

Interested in Participating?

If you are interested in learning more about our studies, please contact:

Banan Ead, Research Patient Coordinator to Dr. Judith Lieu

Email: eadbanan@wustl.edu

Phone: 314-454-2197

Current Research Projects Not Recruiting

Unilateral Hearing Loss in Children and fMRI study
This study looked at children between the ages of 7 to 17 years old who have severe-to-profound hearing loss in one ear and siblings with normal hearing. Participants completed cognitive and speech/language testing and got a brain scan using an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine. The purpose of this study was to learn more about how different regions of the brain work together in children with unilateral hearing loss. (American Hearing Research Foundation, McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience New Resource Proposal)

Hearing Loss and Cognition Study
This study looked at children ages of 6 and 7 years old who have hearing loss in one or both ears and their siblings with normal hearing. A series of cognitive and language tests were administered, and a hearing test was also given to participants. The purpose of this study was to learn more about the effects of hearing loss on cognition in younger children.

Validation of HEAR-QL Questionnaire in Adolescents and Hearing Aid study
The HEAR-QL is a questionnaire given to children who may have hearing loss to assess their quality of life. While this questionnaire has been validated for younger children, we are currently in the process of doing so with older children. For this study, we would ask adolescents between the ages of 13 to 18 years old who have an appointment for a new hearing aid fitting to complete this 4-page questionnaire. After a month, we would ask them to complete another questionnaire. We are hoping that this survey will be able to inform us of how hearing loss affects the quality of life in adolescents, and we hope it helps to evaluate how well treatments for hearing loss work. (American Hearing Research Foundation)

Tympanometry in Down Syndrome study
This study is currently looking for children with Down Syndrome between the ages of 6 months to 5 years old who are coming in for a visit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to see Audiology and ENT. We are also looking for children and adults without Down Syndrome between the ages of 6 months and 30 years old with normal hearing. We would like to learn more about how accurate one type of test to examine a child’s ear is versus another—a 1000 Hz tympanometry versus a 226 Hz tympanometry. The additional test will take about 5 minutes. We are hoping to create a standard for evidence based practice that can be used for special populations of children for the evaluation of middle ear fluid.

Hear QL

The Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) is a questionnaire for children and adolescents with hearing loss. This questionnaire is a condition-specific quality of life questionnaire designed to:

  1. determine how a child perceives the effects of their hearing loss, and
  2. aid the clinician in determining where intervention is warranted to improve the child’s overall being.

The HEAR-QL-26 is a 2 page questionnaire consisting of 26 questions designed for children ages 7 to 12 years old. It provides mean scores for each of its three subscales (Environments, Activities, and Feelings) and for the overall HEAR-QL.

Sample of the HEAR-QL-26:

The HEAR-QL-28 is a 2 page questionnaire consisting of 28 questions designed for adolescents ages 13 to 18 years old. It provides mean scores for each of its four subscales (Family and Friends, Activities, School, and Feelings) and for the overall HEAR-QL.

If you are interested in obtaining these one or both of these assessments, please go to the Office of Technology Management (OTM) page to complete a request.

If you are considering or interested in using these assessments and would like to reach us directly, please contact us for further information.

Related Studies:
Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) Questionnaire for Children with Hearing Loss

Outcomes of Conventional Amplification for Pediatric Unilateral Hearing Loss

Validity, discriminative ability and reliability of the HEAR-QL for Adolescents

Copyright 2008. The Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) is a copyrighted instrument of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. All Rights Reserved.

Lab Team

  • Judith Lieu, MD, MSPH
  • Banan Ead

Select Publications

  1. Lieu JEC. Permanent Unilateral Hearing Loss (UHL) and Childhood Development. Current Otorhinolaryngology Reports 2018;6(1):74-81. doi: 10.1007/s40136-018-0185-5. Epub 2018 Feb 15. PMID: 29651362  http://rdcu.be/G35L
  2. Karzon RK, Narayanan A, Chen L, Lieu JEC, Hershey T.  Longitudinal Hearing Loss in Wolfram syndrome. Orphanet J Rare Dis 2018 Jun 27;13(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13023-018-0852-0. PMID: 29945639. https://rdcu.be/1Z1d 
  3. Tao J, Schulz K, Jeffe D, Lieu JEC. Validations of the OM-6 parent-proxy survey for infants/toddlers with otitis media. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018 May;158(5):934-941. doi: 10.1177/0194599817750372. Epub 2018 Jan 9. PMID: 29313440 
  4. Ikeda AK, Prince AA, Chen JX, Lieu JEC, Shin JJ. Macrolide-Associated Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systemic Review. Laryngoscope 128:228–236, 2018. PMID: 28771738, doi: 10.1002/lary.26799
  5. Appachi S, Specht JL, Raol N, Lieu JEC, Cohen M, Dedhia K, Anne S. Auditory outcomes with hearing rehabilitation in children with unilateral hearing loss: A systematic review. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 157(4) 565–571, 2017 Aug. PMID: 28849705, doi: 10.1177/0194599817726757
  6. Anne S, Lieu JEC, Cohen MS. Speech and language consequences of unilateral hearing loss: a systematic review. Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 157(4) 572–579, 2017 Aug. PMID: 28828919, doi: 10.1177/0194599817726326.
  7. Jung M, Colletta M, Coalson R, Schlaggar BL, Lieu JEC. Differences in interregional brain connectivity in children with unilateral hearing loss using resting state functional connectivity MRI. Laryngoscope 127(11):2636-2645, 2017. PMID: 28425563, doi: 10.1002/lary.26587.
  8. Vila P, Hullar TE, Buchman CA, Lieu JEC. Developing Quality Measures for Adult Cochlear Implant Centers: Preliminary Findings. Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 155(5):748-752, 2016. PMID: 27554517.
  9. Roland L, Fischer C, Tran K, Rachakonda T, Kallogjeri D, Lieu J. Quality of life in children with hearing impairment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 155(2):208-19, 2016. PMID: 27118820. doi: 10.1177/0194599816640485
  10. Vila P, Hullar TE, Buchman CA, Lieu JEC. Analysis of outcomes domains in adult cochlear implantation: a systematic review. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg (in press). April 2016 (epub ahead of print). PMID: 27048664.
  11. Vila PM, Schneider JS, Piccirillo JF, Lieu JEC. Understanding quality measures in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 142(1):86-90, 2016. PMID: 26606715. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2015.2687.
  12. Vila P, Hullar TE, Buchman CA, Lieu JEC. Is there a need for performance measures for cochlear implant centers? Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 153(4):484-487, 2015. PMID: 25805636. doi: 10.1177/0194599815575006.
  13. Vila P, Lieu JEC. Asymmetric and unilateral hearing loss in children. Cell Tissue Res 361(1):271-8, 2015. PMID: 26004144. doi: 10.1007/s00441-015-2208-6.
  14. Weiss AD, Karzon RK, Ead B, Lieu JEC. Efficacy of earphones for 12- to 24-month-old children during visual reinforcement audiometry. Int J Audiol 55:4, 248-253, 2016. PMID: 26903087. doi: 10.3109/14992027.2015.1122236. PMID: 26903087.
  15. Fisher C, Lieu JEC. Unilateral hearing loss is associated with a negative effect on language scores in adolescents. Int J of Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 78(10):1611-1617, 2014.doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2014.07.005.PMID: 25081604.
  16. Grindler DJ, Blank SJ, Schultz K, Witsell D, Lieu JEC. Impact of otitis media severity on children’s quality of life. Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 151(2):333-340, 2014. PMID: 24627408.
  17. Blank SJ, Grindler DJ, Schultz K, Witsell D, Lieu JEC. Caregiver quality of life is related to severity of otitis media in children. Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 151(2):348-353, 2014. PMID: 24748587.
  18. Rachakonda T, Shimony JS, Lieu JEC. Diffusion tensor imaging in children with unilateral hearing loss: a pilot study. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 8(May26):87, 2014. PMID: 24904310. PMCID: PMC4033270.
  19. Lieu JEC. Unilateral hearing loss in children: speech-language and school performance. B-ENT 9 Suppl 21:107-115, 2013 PMID: 24383229.
  20. Ead B, Hale SS, DeAlwis D, Lieu JEC. Pilot study of cognition in children with unilateral hearing loss. Int J of Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 77:1856-1860, 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2013.08.028; PMID: 24035639.
  21. Lieu JEC, Karzon RK, Ead B, Tye-Murray. Do Audiologic characteristics predict outcomes in children with unilateral hearing loss? Otology & Neurotology 34(9):1703-1710, 2013. doi: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000000190. PMID: 24232067. PMCID: PMC3903422.
  22. Rachakonda TD, Jeffe DB, Shin JJ, Mankarious L, Fanning RF, Lesperance ML, Lin J, Lieu JEC. Validity, discriminative ability and reliability of the Hearing-Related Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) Questionnaire for Adolescents. Laryngoscope 124(2):570-578, 2014. doi: 10.1002/lary.24336; PMID: 23900836. PMCID: PMC3951892.
  23. Ghogomu N, Umansky AM, Lieu JEC. Epidemiology of unilateral sensorineural Hearing Loss with universal newborn hearing screening. Laryngoscope 123(11):2873-2879, 2013. doi: 10.1002/lary.24033; PMID: 23553416.
  24. Lieu JEC, Ratnarj F, Ead B.. Evaluating a prediction mode for infant hearing loss. Laryngoscope (in press); doi: 10.1002/lary.24033; PMID: 23564305.
  25. Jensen DR, Grames LM, Lieu JEC. Effects of aural atresia on speech development and learning: retrospective analysis from a multidisciplinary craniofacial clinic. JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Published online July 18, 2013. DOI:10.1001/jamaoto.2013.3859 PMID: 23868202
  26. Lieu JEC, Tye-Murray N, Fu QJ. Longitudinal study of children with unilateral hearing loss. Laryngoscope 122(9):2088-2095, 2012. PMCID: PMC3467198
  27. Umansky AM, Jeffe, DB, Lieu JEC. Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life (HEAR-QL) Questionnaire for Children with Hearing Loss. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology 22(10):644-653, 2011. PMCID: PMC3273903
  28. Briggs LA, Davidson L, Lieu JEC. Outcomes of conventional amplification for pediatric unilateral hearing loss. Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology 120 (7):448-454, 2011. PMCID: PMC3469201
  29. Tibbetts K, Umansky AM, Ead B, Coalson RS, Schlaggar BL, Firszt JB, Lieu JEC. Inter-regional brain interactions in children with unilateral hearing loss. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 144 (4):602-611, 2011. doi:10.1177/0194599810394954, PMCID: PMC3433950
  30. Lieu JEC. Children with Unilateral Hearing Loss. Seminars in Hearing 31(4):275-289, 2010. doi:10.1055/s-0030-1268030 Abstract
  31. Borton SE, Mauze E, Lieu JEC. Quality of Life in Children with Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Pilot Study. American Journal of Audiology 19:61-72, 2010. PMCID: PMC3487472
  32. Lieu JEC, Tye-Murray N, Karzon RK, Piccirillo JF. Unilateral Hearing Loss is Associated with Worse Speech-Language Scores in Children. Pediatrics 125:e1348-e1355, 2010. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-2448. PMCID: PMC3469199
  33. Lieu JEC, Dewan K. Assessment of Self-Selection Bias in a Pediatric Unilateral Hearing Loss Study. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 142:427-433, 2010. PMCID: PMC2975441

Contact Us

Mailing address

660 S. Euclid Ave.
Campus Box 8115
St.Louis, MO 63110