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.