Zastosowanie aparatów słuchowych u dzieci z umiarkowanym niedosłuchem, poniżej drugiego roku życia

Introduction: Proper selection and fitting of hearing aids and early auditory rehabilitation determine the correct auditory development of the child with hearing loss. As audiometric tests: pure tone audiometry and behavioral observation audiometry, allow only to assess the level of sound detection, it is necessary to use questionnaires that help to assess the child’s auditory development and the benefits from the devices used. The application of questionnaires allows to monitor the progress of the auditory development of children who use hearing aids and to compare their perception with normally hearing children. Aim: The aim of this study is: (1) the assessment – based on the results of behavioral observation audiometry and the LittleEARS questionnaire – auditory development of children up to two years of age with moderate hearing loss, after the use of hearing aids and (2) the assessment of the effectiveness of auditory prosthesis used.Material and method: The research group consisted of 30 patients from the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, children aged 7–23 months on the day of the study. To assess the threshold of hearing in children, auditory brainstem response and behavioral audiometry were performed. Twenty children were provided with classical behind-the-ear hearing aids, in 10 children bone conduction hearing aids have been applied. The development of children auditory performance after the application of hearing aids was assessed with the LittlEARS questionnaire completed by parents and a re-examination of the behavioral observation audiometry about 6 months after the hearing aids were applied. The results of audiometric tests and the LittlEARS questionnaire were used to assess the auditory reactions and skills, determine the children’s auditory ages, delay of the auditory development and the effectiveness of the hearing aids used.Results: The results of audiometric tests obtained from behavioral observation audiometry (BOA) in a wide range of frequencies (250–4000 Hz) showed improvement in hearing in all children. The analysis of the LittlEARS questionnaire answers indicates progress in the areas of auditory skills of children who use hearing aids. The delay of the auditory development in hearing impaired children using hearing aids against normally hearing children is on average 4 months. 70% of the research group achieved results within the normal range (the average achieved by children with normal hearing).Conclusions: The use of hearing aids in children with moderate hearing loss allows proper development of the auditory perception. The use of the questionnaire supports the audiological evaluation and allows monitoring of auditory development. When assessing the child’s hearing reactions and development after using hearing aids, there is a significant improvement in the development of listening skills. In order to reliably evaluate the effects after the use of hearing aids in addition to audiometric tests, standardized questionnaires intended for children of a given age should be conducted.