Patient-Reported Measures of Hearing Loss and Tinnitus in Pediatric Cancer and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Systematic Review.
We identified studies that described use of any patient-reported outcome scale for hearing loss or tinnitus among children and adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients.



In this systematic review, we performed electronic searches of OvidSP MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO to August 2015. We included studies if they used any patient-reported scale of hearing loss or tinnitus among children and AYAs with cancer or HSCT recipients. Only English language publications were included. Two reviewers identified studies and abstracted data.



There were 953 studies screened; 6 met eligibility criteria. All studies administered hearing patient-reported outcomes only once, after therapy completion. None of the studies described the psychometric properties of the hearing-specific component. Three instruments (among 6 studies) were used: Health Utilities Index (Barr et al., 2000; Fu et al., 2006; Kennedy et al., 2014), Hearing Measurement Scales (Einar-Jon et al., 2011; Einarsson et al., 2011), and the Tinnitus Questionnaire for Auditory Brainstem Implant (Soussi & Otto, 1994). All had limitations, precluding routine use for hearing assessment in this population.



We identified few studies that included hearing patient-reported measures for children and AYA cancer and HSCT patients. None are ideal to take forward into future studies. Future work should focus on the creation of a new psychometrically sound instrument for hearing outcomes in this population.
Section of Oncology and Cancer Research, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
Daniel
D
Stark
Hematology/Oncology, Seattle Children's Hospital, WA.
Abby R
AR
Rosenberg
Division of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Canada.
Donna
D
Johnston
Pediatric Audiology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland.
Kristin
K
Knight
Scholarly Communications and Researcher Skills, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
Lizzie
L
Caperon
E. M. Uleryk Consulting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Elizabeth
E
Uleryk
Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer Center, MA.
A Lindsay
AL
Frazier
Division of Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Lillian
L
Sung
D002648:Child; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D000071066:Patient Reported Outcome Measures; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000209:etiology