Walker Elizabeth A, Spratford Meredith, Ambrose Sophie E, Holte Lenore, Oleson Jacob
University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE.
Am J Audiol. 2017 Mar 1;26(1):38-52. doi: 10.1044/2016_AJA-16-0063.
This study investigates clinical practice patterns and parent perception of intervention for children with mild hearing loss (HL).
Ages at and delays between service delivery steps (first diagnostic evaluation, confirmation of HL, hearing aid [HA] fitting, entry into early intervention) were investigated for 113 children with mild HL. Comparisons were made to children with moderate-to-severe HL. Parents of children with mild HL reported reasons for delays and their perceptions of intervention and amplification for their children.
Seventy-four percent of children with mild HL were identified through the newborn hearing screen; 26% were identified later due to passing or not receiving a newborn hearing screen. Ninety-four percent of children with mild HL were fit with HAs, albeit at significantly later ages than children with moderate-to-severe HL. Most parents indicated that their children benefited from HA use, but some parents expressed ambivalence toward the amount of benefit.
Audiologists appear to be moving toward regularly providing amplification for children with mild HL. However, delays in HA fittings indicate that further educating professionals and parents about the benefits of early amplification and intervention is warranted to encourage timely fitting and consistent use of HAs.
本研究调查了轻度听力损失（HL）儿童的临床实践模式以及家长对干预措施的看法。
对113名轻度HL儿童的服务提供步骤（首次诊断评估、HL确诊、助听器[HA]验配、进入早期干预）的年龄及各步骤之间的延迟情况进行了调查。并与中重度HL儿童进行了比较。轻度HL儿童的家长报告了延迟的原因以及他们对孩子干预措施和放大装置的看法。
74%的轻度HL儿童通过新生儿听力筛查被确诊；26%的儿童因通过或未接受新生儿听力筛查而在之后被确诊。94%的轻度HL儿童验配了HA，尽管其验配年龄明显晚于中重度HL儿童。大多数家长表示他们的孩子从使用HA中受益，但一些家长对受益程度表示矛盾态度。
听力学家似乎正朝着定期为轻度HL儿童提供放大装置的方向发展。然而，HA验配的延迟表明，有必要进一步对专业人员和家长进行教育，让他们了解早期放大装置和干预的益处，以鼓励及时验配和持续使用HA。
