Bone-anchored hearing aid subjective benefit for unilateral deafness.
OBJECTIVE
Determine the benefit of the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) in patients with unilateral deafness.


METHODS
Retrospective case series and prospective questionnaire study at a tertiary referral center.


METHODS
Patients with unilateral deafness of various etiologies who were implanted with a BAHA (n = 126) or not implanted with a BAHA after a translabyrinthine craniotomy (n = 126) were mailed questionnaires. A total of 139 patients (55%) responded to the questionnaires. Patients who were implanted with a BAHA received a general questionnaire concerning BAHA usage, the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB), and the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire (SSQ). Patients not implanted with a BAHA received only the SSQ hearing questionnaire.


RESULTS
Patients with unilateral deafness demonstrated a benefit with BAHA use on the APHAB. Most improvement with the BAHA was seen in the Background Noise subscale, with a 17.4% improvement. Ease of Communication and Reverberation subscales also demonstrated an 11.6% and 13.2% benefit, respectively. Patients with a BAHA demonstrated better scores in the SSQ Speech subscale when compared to unilaterally deaf patients who did not have a BAHA, although this difference was not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The APHAB demonstrated significant benefit with the use of a BAHA in patients with unilateral deafness. Although the SSQ speech subscale showed overall improvement in auditory disability with the use of a BAHA, this difference was not significant. However, the SSQ hearing questionnaire demonstrated specific situations were the BAHA is most useful.
House
John W
JW
House Clinic, Los Angeles, California 90057, USA. jhouse@hei.org
Kutz
Joe Walter
JW
Chung
Janice
J
Fisher
Laurel M
LM
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D053441:Suture Anchors; D016896:Treatment Outcome