Bilateral Bone-anchored Hearing Aid: impact on quality of life measured with the Glasgow Benefit Inventory.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether the fitting of bilateral Bone-anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) would result in any additional improvement in patients' quality of life (QOL) over and above what we would experience from the fitting of a single-sided BAHA.


METHODS
Retrospective, anonymized, cross-sectional postal survey using the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI).


METHODS
Tertiary referral center.


METHODS
All 93 adult patients who had been using bilateral BAHA for more than 6 months.


METHODS
Hearing rehabilitation using bilateral BAHA.


METHODS
These include the GBI benefit scores across the following domains: "overall benefit," "general health benefit," "physical health benefit," and "social benefit." Comparison of GBI scores against other otological interventions including single-sided BAHA.


RESULTS
Response rate was 76%. Ninety-two percent of patients reported improvement in QOL. Positive QOL improvement scores were reported across all domains. Overall GBI benefit score was +ve 38. This is higher than the benefit scores reported by patients with single-sided BAHA, although this may not be statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
After fitting the second BAHA, patients may report additional improvement in their QOL (of a smaller magnitude) over and above the initial improvement in their QOL after fitting of their first BAHA. In fact, the overall benefit score for bilateral BAHA seem to be close to that for cochlear implantation.
Ho
Eu Chin
EC
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. euchinho@yahoo.co.uk
Monksfield
Peter
P
Egan
Elizabeth
E
Reid
Andrew
A
Proops
David
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D053441:Suture Anchors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology