Trajectory of hearing loss in children with unilateral hearing loss.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to quantify the amount of deterioration in hearing and to document the trajectory of hearing loss in early identified children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL). We also examined whether clinical characteristics were associated with the likelihood of having progressive hearing loss.

Methods: As part of the Mild and Unilateral Hearing Loss Study, we followed a population-based cohort of 177 children diagnosed with UHL from 2003 to 2018.

Parent Report of Amplification Use in Children with Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss.

Background: Amplification is considered to be one of the most important interventions for children with hearing loss. However, achieving consistent use of hearing technology in young children is an important problem, particularly when hearing loss is of mild degree. Little information is available about amplification use specifically for children with mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss when such losses are targeted and identified early because of the availability of newborn hearing screening.

Service Preferences of Parents of Children With Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Conjoint Analysis Study.

Objective: Universal newborn hearing screening results in substantially more children with mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss identified in the early years of life. While intervention services for children with moderate loss and greater are generally well-established, considerable uncertainty and variation surrounds the need for intervention services for children with milder losses. This study was undertaken with parents of young children with permanent mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss to examine their preferences for characteristics associated with intervention services.

Auditory and language outcomes in children with unilateral hearing loss.

Objectives: Children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) are being diagnosed at younger ages because of newborn hearing screening. Historically, they have been considered at risk for difficulties in listening and language development. Little information is available on contemporary cohorts of children identified in the early months of life.

Communication Development in Early-Identified Children With Mild Bilateral and Unilateral Hearing Loss.

Purpose: This clinical focus article provides preliminary findings from a multicenter longitudinal study investigating auditory and communication development in children with mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss of any degree.

Method: A total of 100 children (55 with mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss and 45 with normal hearing) underwent 1 or more assessments from a battery of auditory and language measures.

Results: Children up to age 4 years demonstrated auditory and language skills similar to those of children with normal hearing.

Children With Mild Bilateral and Unilateral Hearing Loss: Parents' Reflections on Experiences and Outcomes.

Children with mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss are now commonly identified early through newborn hearing screening initiatives. There remains considerable uncertainty about how to support parents and about which services to provide for children with mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss. The goal of this study was to learn about parents' experiences and understand, from their perspectives, the impact of hearing loss in the mild range on the child's functioning.

Mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss in childhood: a 20-year view of hearing characteristics, and audiologic practices before and after newborn hearing screening.

Objectives: There is some evidence that the presence of even mild degrees of hearing loss and unilateral loss in early childhood can negatively affect typical development. Consequently, the identification of all children with permanent hearing loss including those with milder degrees of hearing loss is currently targeted through some newborn hearing screening initiatives. The objectives of this study were to document the proportion of children identified with mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss (MBUHL) before and after the implementation of a universal newborn hearing screening program (UNHS).

Comparison of outcomes in children with hearing aids and cochlear implants.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to document the performance of a group of children with moderately severe to severe hearing loss who use hearing aids on a range of speech recognition, speech-language, and literacy measures and to compare these results to children with severe to profound hearing loss, who have learned language through cochlear implants.

Methods: This study involved 41 children with bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment, aged 6-18 years. Twenty children had moderately severe/severe hearing loss and used hearing aids, and 21 had severe to profound hearing loss and used cochlear implants.

Exploring factors that affect the age of cochlear implantation in children.

Objective: Early access to sound through early cochlear implantation has been widely advocated for children who do not derive sufficient benefit from acoustic amplification. Early identification through newborn hearing screening should lead to earlier intervention including earlier cochlear implantation when appropriate. Despite earlier diagnosis and the trend towards early implantation, many children are still implanted well into their preschool years.

A descriptive analysis of language and speech skills in 4- to 5-yr-old children with hearing loss.

Objective: Early intervention through hearing aids (HAs) and cochlear implants (CIs) aims to reduce the negative effects of childhood hearing loss and to promote optimal communication development over time. The primary goal of this study was to examine the communication outcomes of children with CIs and children with HAs at age 4 to 5 yrs and to consider their spoken language skills relative to a group of typically developing hearing peers.

Design: In this multicenter observational study, communication results were obtained for a total of 88 children at age 4 to 5 yrs.

Clinical practice for children with mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss.

Objective: Historically, children with mild bilateral and unilateral hearing loss have been reported to experience difficulties related to language and academic functioning. In the context of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, there is an increasing focus on determining optimal clinical interventions for this population of children. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss identified in a clinical population from 1990 to 2006 and to document clinical practices related to recommendations and uptake of amplification.

Bilateral paediatric cochlear implants: a critical review.

A recent trend has been the implantation of bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) for children with severe to profound hearing loss. A review of available research on bilateral CIs was conducted to determine the support for this trend. A replicable review was undertaken to evaluate published research studies that examined the effectiveness of bilateral paediatric cochlear implantation.

Pediatric cochlear implantation: how much hearing is too much?

Audiologic candidacy criteria for determining cochlear implantation candidacy in children are evolving. The objective of the study was to examine clinical practice related to the cochlear implantation of children who typically do not meet audiologic criteria for this technology. Practitioners' perspectives on the process and the factors influencing candidacy decisions were explored through focus group interviews with hospital and school-based practitioners.

Parents' needs following identification of childhood hearing loss.

Purpose: Appropriate support for families of children diagnosed with hearing impairment may have a direct impact on the success of early hearing detection and intervention programs in reducing the negative effects of permanent hearing loss. We conducted a qualitative study to explore parents' needs after learning of their child's hearing loss to better understand the important components of service delivery from families' perspectives.

Method: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 families (21 parents) of preschool children in 4 centers in Ontario, Canada.

Universal newborn hearing screening: a question of evidence.

The objective of this paper is to present data on the ages of diagnosis and hearing-aid fitting of children with permanent congenital or early-onset hearing loss who were identified through neonatal hearing screening (NHS) programs or medical referral. Data were collected for 709 children born between 1980 and 2003. Children who were screened were diagnosed significantly earlier (mean 6.

Parents' preferences for services for children with hearing loss: a conjoint analysis study.

Objective: Early identification of permanent childhood hearing loss through universal newborn hearing screening is rapidly becoming a standard of care. However, it is well recognized that hearing screening must be embedded within a comprehensive system of rehabilitation and parent support services. This study was undertaken with parents of young children with permanent hearing loss to examine their preferences for characteristics associated with intervention services.

The impact of newborn hearing screening on communication development.

Objective: Universal newborn hearing screening has become standard practice in many countries. The primary goal of this study was to assess the impact of early identification of permanent childhood hearing loss on oral communication development.

Setting: Participants were recruited from three clinical programmes in two cities in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Parents' perspectives on the impact of the early diagnosis of childhood hearing loss.

Newborn hearing screening has been widely implemented to improve outcomes for children with permanent hearing loss. This study examined benefits beyond those typically measured clinically, by exploring parents' perceptions of the effects of early/late identification of hearing loss. The parents of 17 children in Ontario, Canada, participated in the study.

Fitting audiology within the population health perspective.

The population health perspective has become increasingly apparent in the medical, public health, and policy literature. This article emphasizes the value of applying the population health perspective and associated frameworks to the rehabilitative sciences and particularly to the field of audiology. Key components of the population health perspective--including the determinants of health, the importance of evidence-based practice, and the value of transdisciplinarity--are used to illustrate the relevance of population health to the field of audiology.

Objective evaluation of aided thresholds using auditory steady-state responses.

Auditory steady-state responses to amplitude-modulated tones with modulation frequencies between 80 and 105 Hz can be recorded when multiple stimuli are presented simultaneously through a soundfield speaker and amplified using a hearing aid. Responses were recorded at carrier frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz in a group of 35 hearing-impaired children using hearing aids. The physiologic responses were recorded at intensities close to the behavioral thresholds for sounds in the aided condition, with average differences between the physiologic and behavioral thresholds of 17, 13, 13, and 16 dB for carrier frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz.

Frequency-specific audiometry using steady-state responses.

Objective: To evaluate the audiometric usefulness of steady-state responses to multiple simultaneous tones, amplitude-modulated at 75 to 110 Hz.

Design: Steady-state responses to multiple tones amplitude-modulated at different rates between 75 and 110 Hz and presented simultaneously were recorded at different intensities in normal adults, well babies, normal adults with simulated hearing loss, and adolescents with known hearing losses. Response thresholds were compared with behavioral thresholds.

Auditory steady-state responses to tones amplitude-modulated at 80-110 Hz.

Steady-state responses can be recorded from the human scalp in response to tones that are sinusoidally modulated in amplitude at rates between 60 and 120 Hz. For 60 dB SPL 1000-Hz tones the maximum baseline-to-peak amplitude of about 0.06 microV occurs for modulation rates between 80 and 95 Hz.

Recording auditory brainstem responses from infants.

Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) can be reliably recorded from infants in the first few months of life. Since they are normally recognizable down to intensities that are 30 dB above normal hearing thresholds, ABRs elicited by clicks are useful in screening for hearing-impairment in infancy. The ABRs can also provide further diagnostic information about the hearing losses that are detected by screening: the threshold for the response represents a reasonable estimate of the severity of the hearing loss; bone-conduction studies can assess the extent of a conductive loss; and frequency-specific techniques can evaluate hearing thresholds at different frequencies.

Randomized, controlled trial comparing long-term sulfonamide therapy to ventilation tubes for otitis media with effusion.

Several studies have indicated that either the surgical insertion of ventilation tubes (VTs) or long-term treatment with sulfonamide-based antibacterials is effective in the management of otitis media with effusion (OME; otherwise known as serous otitis media, secretory otitis media, and glue ear) when compared with a no-treatment control or placebo. This controlled trial is the first to compare directly the effectiveness of these two treatments for long-standing OME. Outcome variables are treatment success rates, hearing thresholds, recurrent acute otitis media episodes, and side effects of medication or complications of VT placement.