Longitudinal Changes in Hearing Aid Use and Hearing Aid Management Challenges in Infants.
Anisa Sadru Visram, Amber Jemima Roughley, Caroline Louise Hudson and 2 others
PMID 33394782WHAT IT FOUND
Infant hearing aid use dropped significantly from 6.6 to 5.3 hours daily over five months, especially in profound loss.
Caregivers improved at troubleshooting but still struggled to keep aids in. Self-reported use was much higher than data logging showed.
Key findings
01Objective data logging showed a significant decline in daily hearing aid use from a mean of 6.6 hours at the early time point to 5.3 hours at the later time point.
02Caregivers consistently overestimated their infant's hearing aid use compared to objective data logging at both time points.
03The most common barrier reported in free text was the infant removing the hearing aids, cited by 65% of respondents at the later time point.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was predominantly female (99% of caregivers), so findings may not reflect the experiences of fathers or other male caregivers. Recruitment was opportunistic and tied to a larger study, resulting in a wide age range at the second time point (7 to 21 months), which makes it hard to pinpoint exactly when certain challenges emerge. Caregivers who volunteered for a longitudinal study may have been more motivated and skilled than the general population, potentially underestimating the true level of difficulty families face. Data logging measures time the aid is on, not time it is in the ear, so it may overestimate actual use if aids are left on while removed.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and other charitable foundations. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that high self-reported hearing aid use by caregivers reflects actual clinical benefit. This study found caregivers significantly overestimated use compared to data logging, and actual use declined over time even as caregiver confidence in management skills increased.