Department of Otolaryngology, Arrowe Park Hospital, Birkenhead, United Kingdom.
Department of Otolaryngology, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
J Int Adv Otol. 2020 Apr;16(1):73-76. doi: 10.5152/iao.2020.5509.
To review the trialing and uptake of hearing aids in children with unilateral microtia or canal atresia, known collectively as congenital unilateral conductive hearing loss (CUCHL), observed in a tertiary hospital and local peripheral services.
A retrospective review of medical records for patients with CUCHL was conducted using data from a shared audiology database at a tertiary children's hospital.
We identified 45 patients with CUCHL and excluded seven of them due to missing data. Of the 38 patients, 16 (16/38, 42%) did not have any subjective hearing complaints. Furthermore, 32% (12/38) of patients attended audiology at a tertiary centre and 83% (10/12) from this group trialled a hearing aid. In comparison, 46% (12/46) whose audiology care was delivered peripherally trialled aiding. Of the patients from the tertiary center, 58% (7/12) are still using a hearing aid compared to 27% (7/26) of patients from peripheral centers.
Our analysis shows that patients with CUCHL are more likely to try hearing aids and continue using them if their audiology care is in a tertiary center. Allowing for a small sample size, this may indicate a health inequality. Agreeing on minimum standards for the management of patients with CUCHL or managing them in a designated center could increase consistency.
回顾在一家三级医院和当地周边服务机构中观察到的单侧小耳畸形或耳道闭锁（统称为先天性单侧传导性听力损失，CUCHL）患儿使用助听器的试用和采用情况。
使用一家三级儿童医院共享的听力学数据库中的数据，对 CUCHL 患者的病历进行回顾性审查。
我们确定了 45 名患有 CUCHL 的患者，并因数据缺失排除了其中的 7 名。在这 38 名患者中，有 16 名（16/38，42%）没有任何主观听力投诉。此外，32%（12/38）的患者在三级中心接受了听力学检查，其中 83%（10/12）的患者试用了助听器。相比之下，在接受周边护理的患者中，有 46%（12/46）试用了助听器。在来自三级中心的患者中，58%（7/12）仍在使用助听器，而来自周边中心的患者中这一比例为 27%（7/26）。
我们的分析表明，如果 CUCHL 患者的听力学护理在三级中心进行，他们更有可能尝试使用助听器并继续使用。考虑到样本量较小，这可能表明存在健康不平等。为 CUCHL 患者的管理制定最低标准或在指定中心进行管理，可能会提高一致性。
