Infants with hearing loss routinely receive hearing aids several months before reliable behavioral responses to amplified sound can be observed. This necessitates objective measures to validate hearing-aid fittings. A single report has demonstrated the use of ASSRs to determine aided thresholds in children but data in young infants is still lacking. The current study explored aided ASSR compared to unaided ASSR thresholds and subsequent behavioral thresholds in a group of six young infants with hearing loss who received hearing aids between three and six months of age. Aided ASSR thresholds were obtained in 83% of frequencies where aided behavioral thresholds were obtained, with a mean threshold difference of 13+/-13 dB. The aided ASSR-based threshold estimates were within 15 dB of behavioral thresholds in 63% of cases, indicating a moderate correlation (r = 0.55). Comparing aided and unaided ASSR measurements revealed an average functional gain of 36+/-15 dB. These results indicate that ASSRs can provide the first evidence of robust hearing aid benefit in young infants several months before behavioral responses are observed.

Objectives: This study compared parental experience of the audiological diagnosis and intervention process in children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder and sensory neural hearing loss. Method:A matched group survey was used with parents of children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) matched with a control group of parents and children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The two groups were matched in terms of the child's gender, age, amplifications used, social background and utilization of private or public health care sectors. An interview questionnaire, consisting of 45 questions in 6 categories (1. biographic information, 2. experiences of audiological diagnosis, 3. hearing aid benefit, 4. parental experience of the rehabilitation decision making process, 5. parental needs for emotional support and 6. parental needs for information) using a 5-point lickert scale for categories 2 to 7, was administered by the same audiologist.