title: Benefit and quality of life after bone-anchored hearing aid fitting in children with unilateral or bilateral hearing impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the benefits of a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) in the daily lives of hearing-impaired children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective questionnaire study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight BAHA users with a minimum age of 4 years at BAHA fitting and 1 to 4 years of use, divided into groups with bilateral conductive or mixed hearing loss and either normal cognition or mental disability and a group with unilateral conductive hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  Scores on the Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory, Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, and Health Utilities Index Mark 3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory showed a subjective overall benefit of +32, +16, and +26 in the 3 groups (on a scale of -100 to +100). The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit also showed an overall mean benefit in the groups. On an individual level, a clinically significant benefit was reported by more children in the group with bilateral hearing loss and normal cognition (7 patients [70%]) than in the unilateral hearing loss group (4 patients [27%]). Overall mean health utility scores and disability index scores on the Health Utility Index Mark 3 were comparable among the 3 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, BAHA fitting can be considered effective and beneficial in children with bilateral or unilateral hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Donders Centre of Neuroscience, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maarten J F
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: de Wolf
authors.forename: Myrthe K S
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hol
authors.forename: Emmanuel A M
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mylanus
authors.forename: Ad F M
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Snik
authors.forename: Cor W R J
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Cremers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006314:Hearing Loss, Conductive / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D053441:Suture Anchors