Benefit and Quality of Life After Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid Fitting in Children With Unilateral or Bilateral Hearing Impairment

Objective: To evaluate the benefits of a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) in the daily lives of hearing-impaired children. Design: Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting: Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Patients: Thirty-eight BAHA users with a minimum age of 4 years at BAHA fitting and 1 to 4 years of use, divided into groups with bilateral conductive or mixed hearing loss and either normal cognition or mental disability and a group with unilateral conductive hearing loss. Main Outcome Measures: Scores on the Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory, Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit, and Health Utilities Index Mark 3. Results: The Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory showed a subjective overall benefit of +32, +16, and +26 in the 3 groups (on a scale of -100 to +100). The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit also showed an overall mean benefit in the groups. On an individual level, a clinically significant benefit was reported by more children in the group with bilateral hearing loss and normal cognition (7 patients [70%]) than in the unilateral hearing loss group (4 patients [27%]). Overall mean health utility scores and disability index scores on the Health Utility Index Mark 3 were comparable among the 3 groups. Conclusion: Overall, BAHA fitting can be considered effective and beneficial in children with bilateral or unilateral hearing loss.