Hearing aid and cochlear implant use in children with hearing loss at three years of age: Predictors of use and predictors of changes in use

Abstract

Objective: To examine usage patterns of hearing aids and cochlear implants in children up to three years of age, how usage changes longitudinally, and factors associated with device usage. Design: Parent report and Parent’s Evaluation of Aural/oral Performance of Children (PEACH) data were obtained at six and twelve months after hearing-aid fitting or cochlear implant switch-on, and again at three years of age. The effect of device use on auditory functional performance was investigated using the PEACH questionnaire. Study sample: Four hundred and thirteen participants from the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study were included for analysis. Results: For users of hearing aids, higher usage at three years was associated with higher maternal education, and more severe hearing loss. For users of cochlear implants, higher usage was associated with higher maternal education and the absence of additional disabilities. Higher PEACH scores were associated with higher usage scores. After allowing for the effects of demographic characteristics, device use was not a significant predictor of functional performance. Conclusions: Sixty-two percent of children achieved consistent use (> 75% of waking hours) within the first year of receiving a hearing aid or a cochlear implant, and 71% by three years of age.

Key Words::

• Device use
• hearing aids
• cochlear implants
• children
• functional performance
• PEACH
• predictors of usage

Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank all the children, their families and their teachers for participation in this study. We thank Kathryn Crowe and Nicole Mahler-Thompson for their assistance in data collection; and the many persons who served as clinicians for the study participants or assisted in other clinical or administrative capacities at Australian Hearing, Hear and Say Centre, the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, and the Shepherd Centre. The project described was partly supported by Award Number R01DC008080 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders or the National Institutes of Health. The authors acknowledge the financial support of the HEARing CRC, established and supported under the Cooperative Research Centres Program – an Australian Government initiative.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.