title: Service Delivery to Children With Mild Hearing Loss: Current Practice Patterns and Parent Perceptions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates clinical practice patterns and parent perception of intervention for children with mild hearing loss (HL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Ages at and delays between service delivery steps (first diagnostic evaluation, confirmation of HL, hearing aid [HA] fitting, entry into early intervention) were investigated for 113 children with mild HL. Comparisons were made to children with moderate-to-severe HL. Parents of children with mild HL reported reasons for delays and their perceptions of intervention and amplification for their children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-four percent of children with mild HL were identified through the newborn hearing screen; 26% were identified later due to passing or not receiving a newborn hearing screen. Ninety-four percent of children with mild HL were fit with HAs, albeit at significantly later ages than children with moderate-to-severe HL. Most parents indicated that their children benefited from HA use, but some parents expressed ambivalence toward the amount of benefit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Audiologists appear to be moving toward regularly providing amplification for children with mild HL. However, delays in HA fittings indicate that further educating professionals and parents about the benefits of early amplification and intervention is warranted to encourage timely fitting and consistent use of HAs.
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spratford
authors.affiliation: Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE.
authors.forename: Sophie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Ambrose
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: Lenore
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holte
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oleson
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D010290:Parents; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment