Hearing aid use in Finnish children--impact of hearing loss variables and detection delay.
OBJECTIVE
The aim was to study the factors contributing to the mode of hearing aid use in children, with special emphasis on hearing loss variables and detection delay.


METHODS
The subjects were 328 children and adolescents (58.5% boys, 41.5% girls) aged 1-18 years with hearing loss of > or =30 dB HL in the better ear fitted with hearing aid(s). The study was cross-sectional analysing the mode of using the aid binaurally/unilaterally or not at all.


RESULTS
The children with hearing-impairment ranging from 50 to 90 dB HL used more regularly their hearing aids. In the subjects with hearing loss > or =80 dB HL the presence of measurable hearing threshold at 4 kHz related significantly to the acceptance of amplification (p=0.027). In 19% of the subjects hearing aid was discarded. Bilateral amplification was used in 38%. Unilateral use was the prevailing mode (44%). The younger the children (p=0.000) and the worse their hearing loss (p=0.008), the more regular their bilateral use was. Early detection of hearing loss and early hearing aid fitting promoted binaural hearing aid use (p=0.004). A marked asymmetry in pure tone thresholds was a significant audiological reason for fixed unilateral hearing device use (38%, p=0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The study shows that early detection of hearing loss and early habilitation of hearing increase bilateral use of hearing device and decrease the number of nonusers. Furthermore, residual unaided hearing at 4 kHz significantly improves the use of device.
Marttila
Timo I
TI
Audiological Department, Ear-, Nose and Throat Clinic, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, FIN-00029 HUS 29, Helsinki, Finland. timo.marttila@hus.fi
Karikoski
Jukka O
JO
D000293:Adolescent; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors