ListenFuture-Listening for Their Future: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Heikki Löppönen
- Where
- Helsinki, Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere, and Turku, FinlandSee the 7 sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 256 people, planned
- Started
- 1 Mar 2026
- Expected to end
- 31 Dec 2031
- Type of study
- Observational, 2 groups
- Record updated
- 25 February 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 11 years to 16 years
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Can take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 9 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Group 1; Bilateral mild to complete hearing loss
- Group 2:; Typical hearing (PTA<20dB); Typical cognitive, linguistic and literacy development
Who cannot take part
- heart conditions
- developmental brain disorders
- Group 1 and Group 2:
- chromosome anomalies
- severe inner ear anomalies
- impairments in both distance senses hearing and vision; Group 2:
- concerns regarding attention and psychosocial wellbeing
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 11 and 16 years old?
Where in Finland
- Helsinki University HospitalHelsinki, FinlandContact: Antti A Aarnisalo, MD PhDTaking people
- Kuopio University Hospital / University of Eastern FinlandKuopio, FinlandContact: Aarno J Dietz, MD ProfessorTaking people
- Oulu University HospitalOulu, FinlandContact: Jaakko Laitakari, MD PhDTaking people
- University Of OuluOulu, FinlandContact: Sari M Kunnari, PhD ProfessorTaking people
- Tampere University HospitalTampere, FinlandContact: Jarno Kujansivu, MDTaking people
- Åbo Academy UniversityTurku, FinlandContact: Taina T Välimaa, PhD ProfessorTaking people
- Turku University HospitalTurku, FinlandContact: Tytti Willberg, MD PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
ListenFuture, a nation-wide multidisciplinary project, brings new knowledge on complex associations between listening, cognition, language, literacy, and psychosocial wellbeing in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) adolescents. Earlier findings indicate that DHH adolescents remain at a risk to achieving age-appropriate skills. The associations among these skills can also be language-dependent. The investigators use behavioral methods and questionnaires. The investigators study speech perception in noise, listening, and listening-related fatigue to reveal how DHH adolescents cope in today's noisy environment. The investigators study cognitive skills and executive functions, spoken language and literacy skills to find out the current state-of-knowledge. The investigators study psychosocial wellbeing, school burnout and factors associated with them. The investigators will utilize supervised and interpretable machine learning to analyse the performance domains that could best predict the outcomes of DHH adolescents. The investigators expect our project to have broad societal impact for DHH adolescents, healthcare, school, and other stakeholders.
The 2 groups in the trial
- children with hearing loss
children with mild-complete hearing loss
- children with typical hearing
normal hearing
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- ListenFuture-Listening for Their Future: The Complex Associations Between Hearing, Cognition, Spoken Language, Literacy and Psychosocial Wellbeing in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07416292, who can take part
- Record updated
- 25 February 2026