Long-term results of bone-anchored hearing aid recipients who had previously used air-conduction hearing aids.

OBJECTIVE

To study the long-term results (use, care, satisfaction, ear infections, and audiometry) of the application of a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) to patients with conventional indications who had previously used air-conduction hearing aids.

DESIGN

Follow-up study (mean duration, 9 years).

SETTING

Tertiary referral center.

PATIENTS

The study population comprised 27 patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss and who had participated in a previous study (N = 34). Seven could not be included anymore as a result of death, Alzheimer disease, or problems related to the implant. Everyone filled out the questionnaire, and 23 patients underwent audiometric evaluation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The patients filled out the adapted Nijmegen questionnaire. Aided free-field thresholds were measured as well as scores for speech in noise and in quiet. Results were compared with those obtained in the initial study.

RESULTS

All 27 patients were still using their BAHA and appreciated it with regard to speech recognition in quiet, sound comfort, and improvements in ear infections. The audiometric results showed that most patients tested had stable bone-conduction thresholds over the years (after correction for age). Despite the treatment with BAHA, a significant deterioration in the cochlear hearing was observed in the other patients in the ear under study (their best hearing ear).

CONCLUSIONS

Positive patient outcome measures emphasized the importance of BAHA application to patients with conventional indications. The audiometric data showed fairly stable cochlear function but not for all patients. This underlines that conservative treatment should be chosen (fitting of bone-conduction devices).