Disparities in access to pediatric hearing health care

Abstract

Purpose of Review There are significant disparities in care facing children with hearing loss. The objective of this review is to assess the current disparities in pediatric hearing healthcare delivery, describe the barriers of efficient and effective pediatric hearing healthcare, and explore the innovations to improve pediatric hearing healthcare delivery. Recent findings Children with hearing loss from certain geographic regions or ethnic background are significantly delayed in diagnosis and treatment. Multiple patient characteristics (presentation of hearing loss), parental factors (insurance status, socioeconomic status, educational status, and travel distance to providers), and provider barriers (specialist shortage and primary care provider challenges) prevent the delivery of timely hearing healthcare. Advances such as improved screening programs and the expansion of care through remote services may help to ameliorate these disparities. Summary Timely identification and treatment of pediatric hearing loss is critical to prevent lifelong language complications. Children from vulnerable populations, such as rural residents, face significant disparities in care. Careful assessment of these barriers and implementation of culturally-acceptable interventions are paramount to maximize communication outcomes of children with hearing loss.

Impact of COVID-19 on the access to hearing health care services for children with cochlear implants: a survey of parents

“…It is an undisputable fact that hearing healthcare access is a complex issue which involves an interplay of multiple factors from both parents as well as care providers 2 , 7 . Pediatric hearing loss has already proven to be a challenge for the parents during the pre – pandemic times.…”

“…Auditory development during a young age is critical for the acquisition of normal speech and language development 1 . Pediatric hearing loss constitutes one of the most important public health challenges 2 . Children with hearing loss are identified early and habilitated via hearing aids or with cochlear implants (CIs).…”

Socioeconomic Disparities in Pediatric Single‐Sided Deafness

“…10 Prior studies on SES and pediatric hearing loss have mostly used insurance status or median income as surrogates for SES. 7-10,13,17-19,21-25 In the current study, we used both income and insurance status as markers of SES, as well as created the larger and more inclusive low SES group, as well as the smaller double-low SES groups.…”

Communication Skills and Communicative Autonomy of Prelinguistic Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: Application of a Video Feedback Intervention

“…Universal Hearing Screening has significantly reduced the average age at which children with hearing impairment are diagnosed ( Bamford et al, 2005 ). Still, disparities remain in the timely access of the intervention of choice, e.g., cochlear implant(s), for a number of families in many parts of the world, including the United States and United Kingdom, owing to a number of ecological factors such as hearing loss characteristics, parental demographics, and provider barriers ( Hanvey et al, 2016 ; Bush et al, 2017 ). There is variability in the development of oral language even after 2 to 3 years of cochlear implantation even when a child’s age and implant use are accounted for Niparko et al (2010) , Svirsky et al (2000) , i ndicating that some children could be falling through the system and missing out on adequate support.…”