An interventional study of Group Singing and Audiobook Club in Hearing Loss, Age-Related, Speech Intelligibility and Psychosocial Functioning, sponsored by Toronto Metropolitan University. Recruiting at 7 sites in 5 countries. Open to participants aged 60 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-09-18.
Sponsored by Toronto Metropolitan University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Unaddressed age-related hearing loss is highly prevalent among older adults, typified by negative consequences for speech-in-noise perception and psychosocial wellbeing. There is promising evidence that group singing may enhance speech-in-noise perception and psychosocial wellbeing. However, there is a lack of robust evidence, primarily due to the literature being based on small sample sizes, single site studies, and a lack of randomized controlled trials. Hence, to address these concerns, this SingWell Project study utilizes an appropriate sample size, multisite, randomized controlled trial approach, with a robust preplanned statistical analysis.
The objective of the study is to explore if group singing may improve speech-in-noise perception and psychosocial wellbeing for older adults with unaddressed hearing loss.
The investigators designed an international, multisite, randomized controlled trial to explore the benefits of group singing for adults aged 60 years and older with unaddressed hearing loss. After undergoing an eligibility screening process and completing an information and consent form, the investigators intend to recruit 210 participants that will be randomly assigned to either group singing or an audiobook club (control group) intervention for a training period of 12-weeks. The study has multiple timepoints for testing, that are broadly categorized as macro (i.e., pre- and post-measures across the 12-weeks), or micro timepoints (i.e., pre- and post-measures across a weekly training session). Macro measures include behavioural measures of speech and music perception, and psychosocial questionnaires. Micro measures include psychosocial questionnaires and heart-rate variability.
The investigators hypothesize that group singing may be effective at improving speech perception and psychosocial outcomes for older adults with unaddressed hearing loss-more so than participants in the control group.
66 studies on the registry are indexed under Presbycusis; 21 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 210 is above the median of 60 across 45 interventional studies indexed under Presbycusis.
Browse Presbycusis studies →Toronto Metropolitan University is the lead sponsor of 63 studies on the registry; 9 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Inclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
12 week group singing program consisting of 1.5 hours of in-person choir instruction per week.
Behavioral: Audiobook Club
12 week group program consisting of 1.5 hours of in-person audiobook club discussion per week.
Behavioral: Group Singing
12 week choir program consisting of 1.5 hours of in-person instruction per week.
12 week audiobook club program consisting of 1.5 hours of in-person discussion per week.
Speech-in-noise perception
The Coordinate Response Matrix (CRM) generates signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). A lower SNR is indicative of better speech-in-noise perception.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Emotional speech perception
The EmoHI is calculated as the mean accuracy of correct responses as a percentage (0 to 100%).
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Quality of Life/Wellness
The 12-item short-form survey version 2 (SF-12v2) from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) generates a Physical Summary and a Mental Summary of patient quality of life. Scores range from 0 to 100, where a zero score indicates the lowest level of health and 100 indicates the highest level of health.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Anxiety and Depression
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) provides a score between 0 and 21, with higher scores indicative of higher levels of anxiety or depression.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Self Esteem
The Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES) consists of four scales: Membership self-esteem, Private collective self-esteem, Public collective self-esteem, and Importance to Identity. Each scale is scored between 1 and 7, with a higher score indicating high levels of self-esteem.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Social Connectedness
The revised Social Connectedness Scale (SCS-R) is scored as a total between 8 and 48 points, with higher scores indicating higher levels of social connectedness.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Pitch perception
The Frequency Difference Limen (FDL) task evaluates pitch perception threshold. A lower threshold indicates better pitch perception abilities.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Rhythm perception
The Beat Alignment Test (BAT) measures rhythm perception accuracy between 0 and 100%.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Timbre perception
The Spectral-temporally Modulated Ripple Test (SMRT) is a proxy measure of timbre perception. It generates a threshold based on performance. A higher ripple-per-octave threshold is indicative of better spectro-temporal (timbre) perception.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Higher-level Music perception
The Music-in-Noise Task (MINT) is an auditory stream segregation task that is a proxy measure of higher-level music perception. It is scored as proportion correct between 0 and 1.
Time frame: Baseline and completion (week 0 and week 13)
Positive and Negative Affect
The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) consists of a positive and negative outcome measure; each ranging between 10 and 50. For the positive scale, a higher score represents higher levels of positive affect. One the negative scale, a lower score represents lower levels of negative affect.
Time frame: Pre- and post-session (week 2, 7, 11)
Anxiety and Discomfort
The Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale (SUDS) is scored between 0 and 100, with descriptive anchor points. 0 = "no anxiety, calm, relaxed"; 25 = "mild anxiety, alert, able to cope"; 50 = "moderate anxiety, some trouble concentrating"; 75 = "severe anxiety, thoughts of leaving"; and 100 = "very severe anxiety, worst ever experienced".
Time frame: Pre- and post-session (week 2, 7, 11)
Social closeness
The Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale (IOS) is scored between 1 and 7, with a higher score representing more social closeness.
Time frame: Pre- and post-session (week 2, 7, 11)
Heart rate variability and social bonding
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a proxy measure of social bonding. Higher HRV is anticipated to be associated with higher levels of social bonding.
Time frame: Pre- and post-session (week 2, 7, 11)
Plan to share: No
Started Apr 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2026, 17 months after the start.
Of 25 interventional studies with no phase under Presbycusis, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 58. This study's planned 17 months is below that.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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Toronto Metropolitan University