An increasing number of parties complain of difficulty in hearing in noisy environments and in the presence of multiple speech sounds, in spite of pure tone audiometry showing no abnormalities. This condition is called auditory processing disorder (APD). It is considered as a condition in which the auditory threshold is normal, but central auditory information processing is difficult problematic. In Japan, there are no diagnostic criteria for APD, which is a problem for both physicians and patients. We have been conducting research under contract with the AMED project “Development of a Guide for Diagnosis and Support of Auditory Processing Disorders Based on the Needs of Patients with APD,” for fiscal year 2021. It means we We have been conducting research under contract with the AMED since 2021. In the process, it has become clear that many people with APD have related symptoms, such as attention disorder, cognitive problems, and language problems, in addition to problems in auditory information processing. Therefore, we thought that it might be preferable to refer to APD more broadly as Listening Difficulties (LiD). We also propose the following criteria for diagnosis: subjective symptoms of listening difficulties, normal pure tone audiometry, normal speech intelligibility, at least one abnormal value in the auditory information processing test, and a mean value. Auditory Processing Test made by Kaga and Obuchi etc. is constructed 7 tests. The test is expressed in a number of numerical results (such as percentage of correct answers, response time, and so on).

　　We decide that 『abnormal value (outlier) in the Auditory Processing Test』 is a value deviated from mean value － or ＋2SD (－or＋ depends on the content of the test) of people who has no Listening Difficlties, and we also decide that patients having more than “one abnormal value” in the Auditory Processing Test, subjective symptoms of listening difficulties, normal pure tone audiometry, normal speech intelligibility are LiD/APD.

　　Hearing loss is associated with the risk of depression, frailty, dementia, and lowered physical functioning, daily activities and cognitive functions. Hearing aids are the primary auditory intervention for age-related hearing loss. However, it is difficult for elderly people to understand what others are saying in noisy environments due to decline of cognitive functions, based on the processing speed, working memory, attention, and executive control. Elderly people with hearing aids require auditory rehabilitation to improve their listening and communication skills.

　　Auditory rehabilitation using the speech tracking method (speech tracking training) consists of two processes, namely, improving listening and comprehension and acquiring communication skills. Speech tracking training improves attention and working memory.

　　A questionnaire survey of the subjects who underwent auditory rehabilitation revealed remarkable changes, eliciting responses such as “Increase in conversation,” “Improved speech comprehension,” “Raised health awareness,” and“Willingness to participate in social practices”. The present investigation suggests the usefulness of speech tracking training to improve the listening ability and communication skills, and furthermore, to enhance the attention, working memory, and health literacy of elderly people.

　　The increase in the number of elderly people requiring long-term care in this rapidly aging society has become one of the important issues in medical care. Measures against frailty, which is a stage prior to the stage of needing nursing care, are becoming more and more important. Frailty is a concept that encompasses not only physical frailty, but also psychological, cognitive, and social frailty, and is characterized by its multidimensionality and reversibility.

　　There are several criteria used to assess frailty; the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) criteria proposed by Fried et al. are widely used internationally, while the Kihon Check List (KCL) published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of the country is used in Japan. Herein, we report the results of a study of frailty conducted based on different indicators of frailty used in the longitudinal study of aging (NILS-LSA) and at the hearing aid outpatient clinic at the National Institute for Longevity Sciences, and propose the possibility that hearing care professionals could contribute to early detection of the care reserve group in the population.

　　We reviewed the data of 13 children with conductive or mixed hearing loss who underwent a trial of cartilage conduction hearing aids (CCHA). All four children with bilateral hearing loss who were using bone conduction hearing aids (BCHA) selected CCHA as the preferred device, because CCHA felt more comfortable and were not more expensive than BCHA. One of four children with bilateral hearing loss who were wearing air conduction hearing aids (ACHA) purchased CCHA. Three cases did not desire CCHA, because CCHA were more complicated to wear and more expensive than ACHA. Two of five children with unilateral conductive hearing loss without hearing aids purchased CCHA. In the three cases that did not choose CCHA, one case chose ear surgery for improving hearing loss after the trial, and another one requested a re-trial and purchased CCHA after 1 year. We should proactively propose CCHA for children who have been offered BCHA as the only option. For children with congenital unilateral conductive hearing loss, it may be a great experience to understand their hearing impairment and the effect of binaural hearing with CCHA. The parents should be re-informed about hearing aids not only during infancy, but also during school-age.

　　We retrospectively examined the validity of our criteria for bilateral cochlear implantation in adults at our Hospital. The subjects were 11 patients who had undergone bilateral cochlear implantation and speech perception tests at least twice, before and at 3, 6, or 12 months after the operation. In this study, improvement in speech perception using the loudspeaker method, subjective evaluation and social participation were evaluated. The results were satisfactory in 10 of the 11 patients, suggesting that our criteria are generally appropriate. The remaining one patient was 70 years old and had lost hearing in the worse ear for about 28 years. Of the patients in their 70s who underwent cochlear implantation and showed good results of speech perception, the most prolonged period of hearing loss was 10 years. Therefore, we propose to add a new criterion for cochlear implantation in adults as a supplementary item and conduct further investigation: “Careful consideration should be given to those over 70 years of age with an over 10-year history of hearing loss.”

　　The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of year 2019 heralded a long period of oppressive living conditions, including mandatory wearing of masks for long periods of time, social distancing, and refraining from going out or eating out need for withdrawal from social activities. Especially in the spring of 2020, school attendance and commuting were restricted for several months, and the living environments changed drastically, resulting in situations where both adults and children were forced to bear a mental burden imposing a mental burden on both adults and children.

　　In this study, we examined the physical and psychosocial clinical profiles of children with functional hearing loss who visited our department in 2020.

　　The results showed that the number of diagnoses did not increase significantly from that in previous years, despite the impact of COVID-19 contrary to our expectations. Boys accounted for a higher proportion of the cases. In addition, the proportion of cases with subjective hearing loss and with accompanying symptoms was higher, and many of the children were able to explain their symptoms. Furthermore, the background factors of the cases with suspected psychological problems differed between boys and girls. Many of these factors were thought to have arisen from changes in the living environments of the children caused by the COVID-19 disaster, such as restrictions placed on school attendance and play, and stress among family members due to the increased time spent at home.