Understanding Hearing Difficulties in People with Sleep Apnea
Official title: Auditory Effects of Sleep Apnea and CPAP Therapy
Funded at Portland VA Medical Center · NIH-11132599 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work explores if sleep apnea affects hearing, even when standard hearing tests are normal, and if CPAP therapy could help improve it for Veterans.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Portland VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Portland, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| NIH project number | 5I21RX005142-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11132599 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for future related studies would likely be Veterans aged 21 and older who have obstructive sleep apnea and experience hearing difficulties not explained by traditional hearing loss.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose hearing loss is fully explained by traditional causes or who do not have sleep apnea may not directly benefit from this specific line of research.
What this research studies
Many Veterans experience hearing difficulties that aren't explained by typical hearing loss, making it hard to find effective solutions. This project looks at whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a common condition, might be connected to these unexplained hearing problems. We want to see how sleep apnea's presence and severity relate to how the ear and brain process sounds. The goal is to gather initial information to help design a larger effort to see if using CPAP, a common sleep apnea treatment, could improve hearing function.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new ways to understand and treat hearing difficulties for individuals with sleep apnea, potentially improving their daily lives.
How similar studies have gone: This proposal aims to gather pilot data to inform a larger study, suggesting this specific approach to linking sleep apnea and auditory processing is in its early stages of exploration.
Where this research is happening
-
Portland VA Medical Center
Portland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Papesh, Melissa — Portland VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Papesh, Melissa
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.