In case you missed it, in October 2016 the American Journal of Audiology (AJA) released a special issue on the Internet and Audiology. The internet and modern information technology has had a major impact in health care and also in audiology. Not only do audiologists use information technology such as websites and e-mail in the clinic, but there is also a growing number of studies in which the internet is used in audiological research.
The special issue is the second such collection of articles, with the first being produced as a Research Forum in the journal. These collections provide snapshots of the evolving state of the art and connect people and ideas central to Internet and audiology. Internet and Audiology: A Review of the Second International Meeting
by Ariane Laplante-Lévesque, Thomas Lunner, Gerhard Andersson, and Jill E. Preminger, provides an overview of the meeting and the 11 articles arising from the conference. The articles are grouped into 2 themes, design and evaluation, and present new and innovative research on hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance disorders.
The Internet and Audiology conference reflects a commitment to using the Internet to facilitate information exchange in and around hearing health care as this transformation gives audiologists a new opportunity to better utilize their unique professional expertise for the benefit of people with hearing impairment and the population at large. The Third International Meeting on Internet and Audiology will take place July 27 and 28, 2017 at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.
As uses of the internet and modern information technology for online hearing screening, online questionnaires, audiological rehabilitation, and many other purposes continues to evolve, we anticipate a third collection of articles will be published in an upcoming issue of AJA following the Third International Meeting on Internet and Audiology.
