The acceptance of hearing aids for children: a longitudinal analysis

There exist no systematic longitudinal studies concerning the acceptance of hearing aids in Germany. This study examines the acceptance of a hearing a id (defined by its daily/weekly use) in the management of children with per sistent sensorineural hearing loss over a period of years. 35 children with monaural or binaural hearing loss were treated with a hear ing aid. All children had at least a 25-dB averaged mid-frequency pure-tone hearing loss (500, 1000, 2000, 4000 Hz). The data consist of standardized parent ratings at 4 points in time over a period of nearly 30 months. Unilateral-impaired children wore their hearing aids less often than bilate ral-impaired children. This effect was not significant at the beginning (P= 0.85) but increased over time. By the end the difference was significant (P =0.004). Mild to moderate monaural hearing-impaired children accept ed thei r hearing aids, whereas children with severe to profound hearing loss refus ed to wear them. Bilateral hearing-impaired children demonstrated, a priori , a better wearing acceptance that even improved with time. There was never a significant difference between boys and girls in their average wearing t ime. A significant correlation of age and wearing acceptance was also not o bserved at any time. Hearing aids are an effective treatment with high acceptance and compliance , especially by children with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The qua lity of acceptance of monaural hearing-impaired children needs to be studie d further.