Patient satisfaction with bilateral bone-anchored hearing aids: the Birmingham experience

Abstract

The Birmingham bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) programme has fitted more than 300 patients with unilateral bone-anchored hearing aids since 1988. Some of the patients who benefited well with unilateral aids and who had used bilateral conventional aids previously applied for bilateral amplification. To date, 15 patients have been fitted with bilateral BAHAs. The benefits of bilateral amplification have been compared to unilateral amplification in 11 of these patients. Subjective analysis in the form of validated comprehensive questionnaires was undertaken.The Glasgow benefit inventory (GBI), which is a subjective patient orientated post-interventional questionnaire developed to evaluate any otorhinolaryngological surgery and therapy was administered. The results revealed that the use of bilateral bone-anchored hearing aids significantly enhanced general well being (patient benefit) and improved the patient’s state of health (quality of life). The Chung and Stephens questionnaire which addresses specific issues related to binaural hearing was used. Our preliminary results are encouraging and are comparable to the experience of the Nijmegen BAHA group.

BAHA in children and adolescents with unilateral or bilateral conductive hearing loss: A study of outcome

“…The questionnaire consisted of 21 questions (Table 2) dealing with different aspects of hearing and communication. Each question had five different response alternatives, where the different alternatives and the corresponding rates were: never (0), rarely (1), occasionally (2), frequently (3) and always (4). The outcomes were thematically grouped into the following fields: hearing aid use, reaction to sounds, sound discrimination, verbal communication, and speech intelligibility.…”

“…Each question has five different response alternatives progressing from the worst to the best outcome (1)(2)(3)(4)(5), and each step is semantically equidistant. When comparing group data, mean scores below 3.5 indicate poor habilitation outcome in patients with mild to moderate hearing impairment unaided.…”

“…16 Does the child spontaneously use speech only to communicate with parents, teachers and/or friends when the topic of conversation is not familiar one? 17…”

“…Thus, one BAHA should theoretically be sufficient for good hearing amplification even though the hearing loss is bilateral. However, several recent studies in adults have shown clear benefits of fitting bilateral BAHAs in terms of improved ability to localize sound, speech recognition in quiet and noise, binaural hearing, and greater satisfaction in patients [2][3][4]. To date, there have been no corresponding studies in children.…”

Does the Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid Have a Complementary Effect on Audiological and Subjective Outcomes in Patients with Unilateral Conductive Hearing Loss?

“…In view of the successful unilateral application of the BAHA to patients with bilateral hearing impairment, several studies have been performed on extended indications for BAHA application. For example, in the recent past, bilateral application of the BAHA has proved to be effective, particularly for binaural hearing [Bosman et al, 2001;Dutt et al, 2002;Priwin et al, 2004]. Another challenge is set by the group of patients with one impaired ear and one ear with normal hearing.…”