Volume 8 Issue 3 (pdf) - Andrew John Publishing Inc

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taBLe 1. desCription of infants, toddLers and presChooL ChiLdren With aided pChi invoLved
in this studY
Number of Pure Tone Average Mean Age Age Range Typically Developing Comorbidities Complex Factors
Participants (range in dB Hl) (months)* (months)* (%) (%) (%)
116 21.2–117.5 35.6 3.6–107.1 36.2 23.5 40.9
*Chronological age.
uses provincial protocols for the
provision of hearing aids, 1 which include
fitting the hearing aids to the Desired
Sensation Level (DSL) version 5.0a
prescriptive algorithm. 7 Audiometric
and medical profiles of the children
varied, along with follow-up details.
partiCipants
Table 1 provides the number of
participants involved in this study in one
of three groups: (1) typically developing;
(2) comorbidities; and (3) complex
factors. Children with comorbidities
were born prematurely and/or had other
identified medical issues besides hearing
loss. Complex factors were logged to
track non-medical issues that may
impact overall outcome with
intervention (i.e., late identification, late
fitting, inconsistent hearing aid use).
Figure 1: littlEARS scores (y-axis) by age (x-axis) and regression lines from typically developing children
(circles), children with comorbidities (squares) and complex factors (triangles). The solid line represents
the minimum normative values. Various dashed lines indicate the regression for each data set.
(b) reflect the general population of
children typically followed in a pediatric
audiology outpatient clinic.
Method
Data were obtained as part of a
longitudinal observational study in
which outcomes were logged for all
patients at participating sites. Pediatric
audiologists at four clinical sites
administered the LittlEARS and PEACH
to caregivers of infants, toddlers, and
preschool children with aided PCHI.
The patients were seen during routine
clinical care through Ontario’s Infant
Hearing Program (OIHP) over a period
of 18 months. The OIHP follows
children from birth to age six years and
resuLts: auditorY
deveLopMent and auditorY
perforManCe
Regression analyses were conducted on
each group separately to determine the
effect of age on the overall PEACH
score. For all children who were
typically developing, scores varied
significantly with age (R 2 =0.19; F=5.60,
df=25, p