The Essentials of Fitting Hearing Aids to Babies

Abstract

Fitting hearing aids to infants requires special consideration at each stage of the process. In the assessment stage, electrophysiological hearing threshold estimates must be adjusted appropriately so that an accurate hearing aid fitting can occur. Ear canal acoustics are also important to consider during the assessment stage of the hearing aid fitting process for infants. A strategy for measuring the real-ear-to-coupler difference in infants is described in this article. Clinicians must also take into account the electroacoustic and nonelectroacoustic characteristics of the hearing aids that are chosen for the infant with hearing loss. Following the selection stage, verification that the electroacoustic performance of the chosen hearing aid is meeting the auditory characteristics of the infant is a vital part of the process. Finally, evaluation of the effectiveness of the device completes the hearing aid fitting process for infants with hearing loss. Each stage of the process is described in this article so that clinicians have information about the essentials of fitting hearing aids to infants with hearing loss.

Keywords

Hearing aids - infant - real-ear-to-coupler difference - verification - outcome measurement

• References

• 1 American Academy of Pediatrics, Joint Committee on Infant Hearing. Year 2007 position statement: principles and guidelines for early hearing detection and intervention programs. Pediatrics 2007; 120: 898-921
• 2 American Academy of Audiology (Producer). American Academy of Audiology Pediatric Amplification Guidelines. 2003 ; Available at: http://www.audiology.org/resources/documentlibrary/Documents/pedamp.pdf . Accessed January 7, 2013
• 3 Bagatto M, Scollie SD, Hyde M, Seewald R. Protocol for the provision of amplification within the Ontario infant hearing program. Int J Audiol 2010; 49 (Suppl. 01) S70-S79
• 4 Van Maanen A, Stapells DR. Multiple-ASSR thresholds in infants and young children with hearing loss. J Am AcadAudiol 2010; 21: 535-545
• 5 Bagatto M, Moodie S, Scollie S , et al. Clinical protocols for hearing instrument fitting in the Desired Sensation Level method. Trends Amplif 2005; 9: 199-226
• 6 Bagatto MP. Page ten: baby waves and hearing aids: using ABR to fit hearing aids to infants. The Hearing Journal 2008; 6: 10 ,12,14,16
• 7 Seewald R, Scollie S. Infants are not average adults: implications for audiometric testing. Hear Journal 1999; 52: 64-72
• 8 Moodie K, Seewald R, Sinclair S. Procedure for predicting real-ear hearing aid performance in young children. Am J Audiol 1994; 3: 23-31
• 9 Bagatto MP, Scollie SD, Seewald RC, Moodie KS, Hoover BM. Real-ear-to-coupler difference predictions as a function of age for two coupling procedures. J Am AcadAudiol 2002; 13: 407-415
• 10 Bagatto MP, Seewald RC, Scollie SD, Tharpe AM. Evaluation of a probe-tube insertion technique for measuring the real-ear-to-coupler difference (RECD) in young infants. J Am AcadAudiol 2006; 17: 573-581
• 11 Scollie S, Seewald R, Cornelisse L , et al. The Desired Sensation Level multistage input/output algorithm. Trends Amplif 2005; 9: 159-197
• 12 Keidser G, Dillon H, Flax M, Ching T, Brewer S. TheNAL-NL2 prescription procedure. Audiol Res 2011; 1 (1S) e24
• 13 McCreery R. Pediatric hearing aid verification: Innovative trends. Audiol Online 2008; Available at: http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=2063 . Accessed January 7, 2013
• 14 Stelmachowicz P, Lewis D, Hoover B, Nishi K, McCreery R, Woods W. Effects of digital noise reduction on speech perception for children with hearing loss. Ear Hear 2010; 31: 345-355
• 15 Gustafson SJ, Pittman AL. Sentence perception in listening conditions having similar speech intelligibility indices. Int J Audiol 2011; 50: 34-40
• 16 Ricketts T, Galster J, Tharpe AM. Directional benefit in simulated classroom environments. Am J Audiol 2007; 16: 130-144
• 17 Ching TY, O'Brien A, Dillon H , et al. Directional effects on infants and young children in real life: implications for amplification. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2009; 52: 1241-1254
• 18 Ricketts TA, Galster J. Head angle and elevation in classroom environments: implications for amplification. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2008; 51: 516-525
• 19 Moeller MP, Hoover B, Putman C , et al. Vocalizations of infants with hearing loss compared with infants with normal hearing: Part I—phonetic development. Ear Hear 2007; a 28: 605-627
• 20 Moeller MP, Hoover B, Putman C , et al. Vocalizations of infants with hearing loss compared with infants with normal hearing: Part II—transition to words. Ear Hear 2007; b 28: 628-642
• 21 Seewald RC, Moodie KS, Sinclair ST, Scollie SD. Predictive validity of a procedure for pediatric hearing instrument fitting. Am J Audiol 1999; 8: 143-152
• 22 Bagatto MP, Moodie ST, Malandrino AC, Richert FM, Clench DA, Scollie SD. The University of Western Ontario Pediatric Audiological Monitoring Protocol (UWO PedAMP). Trends Amplif 2011; 15: 57-76
• 23 Bagatto MP, Moodie ST, Seewald RC, Bartlett DJ, Scollie SD. A critical review of audiological outcome measures for infants and children. Trends Amplif 2011; 15: 23-33
• 24 Moodie ST, Kothari A, Bagatto MP, Seewald R, Miller LT, Scollie SD. Knowledge translation in audiology: promoting the clinical application of best evidence. Trends Amplif 2011; 15: 5-22
• 25 Andresen EM. Criteria for assessing the tools of disability outcomes research. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2000; 81 (12) (Suppl. 02) S15-S20
• 26 Bagatto MP, Brown CL, Moodie ST, Scollie SD. External validation of the LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire with English-speaking families of Canadian children with normal hearing. Int J PediatrOtorhinolaryngol 2011; 75: 815-817
• 27 Bagatto M, Scollie S. Validation of the Parents' Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) rating scale. J Am AcadAudiol 2013; . In press