Figure 4 - uploaded by Zheng Yen Ng
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
This research explored the experiences and views on children and young people with mild or moderate hearing loss from the viewpoints of parents and teachers using online questionnaires with open and closed questions, and interviews. 614 parents of children and young people with mild or moderate hearing loss responded to the survey. The children and...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... the responses from both parents and teachers a common theme of increasing use of technology for this group emerges both at school and at home. Figure 4 shows the parents' response when they were asked how much their child wears their hearing aids or BCHIs. The vast majority of the children and young people are reported to be wearing their devices all the time (81%). ...
Similar publications
p class="abstract"> Background: Masking dilemma is a condition prevalent whenever there is significant hearing loss in non-test ear and conductive hearing loss in test ear resulting into narrow or non-existent plateau width. Three feasible ways are divulged to circumvent this condition namely, Sensorineural acuity level testing, Fusion Inferred at...
Citations
... 60% of parents of children with mild or moderate hearing loss report needing more support for their child. 13 Actively supporting speech and language development following OME diagnoses could improve learning and behaviour in the long term. Behind-the-Ear (BTE) hearing aids during this period are unpopular due the fluctuating nature of the hearing loss and the challenge of selectively amplifying low frequency sounds. ...
... PTA values 41.25 and 47.5 dB shown in Figure 8) may have been influenced by a 'fatigue' effect which has been observed to influence concentration and motivation in children with severe hearing loss. 13,38 This effect could have been exacerbated by having a 30 minute audiology assessment prior to trialling the app. This effect could have been minimised by delaying the study participation to a different day or randomly allocating half of the cohort to be tested before a clinic appointment. ...
Objectives
To evaluate the acceptability and usability of the Hear Glue Ear mobile application to guide families and support speech and language development in children with otitis media with effusion (OME). To assess the validity of the app’s game-based hearing test to estimate changes in hearing levels between audiology appointments.
Method
This evaluation examined 60 children aged 2–8 with and without OME, attending Cambridge Community Audiology clinics. Children’s performance in the app’s hearing test was compared to their pure tone average (PTA) obtained in clinic. Children and caregivers completed questionnaires after their first interaction with the app, and after one week of using it at home. 18 clinicians completed anonymous questionnaires after trialling the app.
Results
Results from the app’s hearing test show a significant correlation with clinic PTA values ([Formula: see text]). 73.1% of caregivers supported their child using the app regularly and 85% thought it enabled them to give more accurate reports to clinicians. After one week, 87.0% of families downloaded and used the app at home, and 85.7% of these felt it provided strategies to help their child. 100% of children liked the app and 93.3% found it easy to use. 77.8% of clinicians supported patients using the app regularly.
Conclusions
Hear Glue Ear is acceptable to children, caregivers and clinicians as part of OME management. The app’s hearing test provides a valid estimate of fluctuating hearing levels. Hear Glue Ear is a free, accessible and family-centred intervention to provide trusted information and support development, as NICE guidance recommends.
... Furthermore, studies often use strict HL definitions based on severity. This lack of inclusion of other forms of HL may be inappropriate given the potential impact of temporary and mild HL in children 81,443,444 . For the MCS analyses, I did not limit my HL case definition by severity of HL, but instead focussed on parent-and self-reported HL, which should detect any HL that the parents or children notice has impacted on the child. ...
... Response rates in the Millennium Cohort Study81 | P a g e Unit/item non-response indicates that there is a productive interview at a particular sweep, but one or more specific questions of interest at the sweep are not answered. This may refer to a single question ('item'), or to a whole section ('unit')3.7.2. ...
Childhood hearing loss (HL) varies in impact and can present, and resolve, at any age. Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) was introduced in the UK to facilitate early HL detection. This thesis addressed uncertainties over the frequency, patterns, and mental health impact of childhood HL, and evaluated UNHS programme performance. I examined the prevalence and patterns of HL between ages 9 months and 14 years using longitudinal data from children and their parents in the UK-based Millennium Cohort Study. I developed a lifecourse classification system for HL trajectories and fitted multivariable regression models to study the associations between HL and demographic and individual characteristics, as well as peer victimisation, depressive symptoms, and self-harm. Alongside this, I completed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to estimate the UNHS-detected prevalence of permanent HL and evaluate screening programme performance. By age 14 years, HL was reported on at least one occasion for 21.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 19.7-22.5%) of children. This was classified into five groups by timing of onset and resolution, with most HL presenting and resolving in early childhood. Those of male sex, white ethnic background, or with limiting longstanding illness, were at higher risk of HL. HL was associated with depressive symptoms and self-harm at age 14 years, and more strongly associated with peer victimisation in females than males. In the meta-analysis, pooled prevalence of UNHS-detected HL was 1.2 (95% CI: 1.0-1.4) per 1000 screened infants. Prevalence was higher for children admitted to neonatal intensive care. UNHS performance was generally good although the limited follow-up period of most studies restricted my evaluation. These findings indicate that over 20% of children experience HL during childhood and emphasises the need for further research, and careful planning of screening, clinical care and educational services to reduce the impact on adolescent mental health.
... There are often months between hearing tests and referrals to specialists. During this time, mild-to-moderate HL often persists and significantly affects the everyday life of children and their families; 60% of parents of children with mild-to-moderate HL report that they need more support for their child (Archbold et al., 2015). ...
The recommended management for children with otitis media with effusion (OME) is ‘watchful waiting’ before considering grommet surgery. During this time speech and language, listening skills, quality of life, social skills, and outcomes of education can be jeopardized. Air-conduction (AC) hearing aids are problematic due to fluctuating AC hearing loss. Bone-conduction (BC) hearing is stable, but BC hearing aids can be uncomfortable. Both types of hearing aids are costly. Given the high prevalence of OME and the transitory nature of the accompanying hearing loss, cost-effective solutions are needed. The leisure industry has developed relatively inexpensive, comfortable, high-quality BC headsets for transmission of speech or music. This study assessed whether these headsets, paired with a remote microphone, improve speech discrimination for children with OME. Nineteen children aged 3 to 6 years receiving recommended management in the United Kingdom for children with OME participated. Word-discrimination thresholds were measured in a sound-treated room in quiet and with 65 dB(A) speech-shaped noise, with and without a headset. The median threshold in quiet ( N = 17) was 39 dB(A) (range: 23–59) without a headset and 23 dB(A) (range: 9–35) with a headset ( Z = −3.519, p < .001). The median threshold in noise ( N = 19) was 59 dB(A) (range: 50–63) without a headset and 45 dB(A) (range: 32–50) with a headset (Z = −3.825, p < .001). Thus, the use of a BC headset paired with a remote microphone significantly improved speech discrimination in quiet and in noise for children with OME.
... Most of these participants gave accounts of how they experienced and noted a developmental delay in their children which initially prompted their suspicion of a problem, coupled with frustration and worry when they were confronted with the diagnosis of their children's profound hearing loss. These narrated experiences were in line with the experiences of parents in the United Kingdom when their children failed the newborn screening test and subsequent hearing test [23]. Contrary to this, no mother in this study gave an account of her child being tested or screened for a hearing deficit during the newborn period, indicating that this routine test is often overlooked among neonates in Nigeria. ...
... Participants' narrative also revealed their inability to afford a hearing aid because of its cost. A participant, from her narrative felt that hearing aid would have greatly ameliorated condition in line with other findings [23]. This suggests that in developed economies where there is financial protection for the cost of healthcare [4], a child's hearing disability may be duly managed since the cost of hearing devices may be greatly less than the cost in developing countries like Nigeria. ...
... There is consensus among researchers that unilateral and or mild to moderate HL loss may have negative impacts on a child's educational, language and social/communication outcomes (Culbertson & Gilbert 1986;Bovo et al. 1988;Brookhauser et al. 1991;Lieu 2004;Most 2004;Moeller et al. 2007;Lieu et al. 2010). According to Archbold et al. (2015), children with mild/moderate HL are less likely to be diagnosed at early ages, if at all. As these children develop speech and language skills which are intelligible to their teachers, their HL may go unnoticed. ...
Objectives
There are no nationally representative hearing loss (HL) prevalence data available for Canadian youth using direct measurements. The present study objectives were to estimate national prevalence of HL using audiometric pure-tone thresholds (0.5 to 8 kHz) and or distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) for children and adolescents, aged 3 to 19 years.
Design
This cross-sectional population-based study presents findings from the 2012/2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey, entailing an in-person household interview and hearing measurements conducted in a mobile examination clinic. The initial study sample included 2591 participants, aged 3 to 19 years, representing 6.5 million Canadians (3.3 million males). After exclusions, subsamples consisted of 2434 participants, aged 3 to 19 years and 1879 participants, aged 6 to 19 years, with valid audiometric results. Eligible participants underwent otoscopic examination, tympanometry, DPOAE, and audiometry. HL was defined as a pure-tone average >20 dB for 6- to 18-year olds and ≥26 dB for 19-year olds, for one or more of the following: four-frequency (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) pure-tone average, high-frequency (3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz) pure-tone average, and low-frequency (0.5, 1, and 2 kHz) pure-tone average. Mild HL was defined as >20 to 40 dB (6- to 18-year olds) and ≥26 to 40 dB (19-year olds). Moderate or worse HL was defined as >40 dB (6- to 19-year olds). HL in 3- to 5-year olds (n = 555) was defined as absent DPOAEs as audiometry was not conducted. Self-reported HL was evaluated using the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 hearing questions.
Results
The primary study outcome indicates that 7.7% of Canadian youth, aged 6 to 19, had any HL, for one or more pure-tone average. Four-frequency pure-tone average and high-frequency pure-tone average HL prevalence was 4.7 and 6.0%, respectively, whereas 5.8% had a low-frequency pure-tone average HL. Significantly more children/adolescents had unilateral HL. Mild HL was significantly more common than moderate or worse HL for each pure-tone average. Among Canadians, aged 6 to 19, less than 2.2% had sensorineural HL. Among Canadians, aged 3 to 19, less than 3.5% had conductive HL. Absent DPOAEs were found in 7.1E% of 3- to 5-year olds, and in 3.4E% of 6- to 19-year olds. Among participants eligible for the hearing evaluation and excluding missing data cases (n = 2575), 17.0% had excessive or impacted pus/wax in one or both ears. Self-reported HL in Canadians, aged 6 to 19, was 0.6 E% and 65.3% (aged 3 to 19) reported never having had their hearing tested. E indicates that a high sampling variability is associated with the estimate (coefficient of variation between 16.6% and 33.3%) and should be interpreted with caution.
Conclusions
This study provides the first estimates of audiometrically measured HL prevalence among Canadian children and adolescents. A larger proportion of youth have measured HL than was previously reported using self-report surveys, indicating that screening using self-report or proxy may not be effective in identifying individuals with mild HL. Results may underestimate the true prevalence of HL due to the large number excluded and the presentation of impacted or excessive earwax or pus, precluding an accurate or complete hearing evaluation. The majority of 3- to 5-year olds with absent DPOAEs likely had conductive HL. Nonetheless, this type of HL which can be asymptomatic, may become permanent if left untreated. Future research will benefit from analyses, which includes the slight HL category, for which there is growing support, and from studies that identify factors contributing to HL in this population.
... However, there remains wide variation in educational outcomes for deaf children; Government data for the UK shows that the educational attainment of deaf children continues to fall behind their hearing peers (CRIDE, 2015). Several researchers have reported a lack of significant relationship between the degree of hearing loss and educational achievement (Moeller, 2000), in fact increasingly there is evidence that even a mild or moderate hearing loss impacts negatively on educational outcomes (Archbold et al., 2015;Cone, Wake, Tobin, Poulakis, & Rickards, 2010;Most, 2004;NatSIP, 2014 ;O'Neill, Arendt, & Marschark, 2014). ...
... "It is assumed that because he wears a cochlear implant, his hearing is normal when it is not" (134,Finland) Similarly, the terms "mild" and "moderate" used to describe hearing loss do not adequately reflect the impact of the hearing loss at home and school. Approximately 50% of parents in this survey reported that they wanted more support in school for their child with a mild-moderate hearing loss, reflecting the findings of Archbold et al. (2015), which also reported that teachers had insufficient information regarding their child's loss and unclear expectations of children who appear to not need their technology as they seem to "hear" without them. ...
Education opportunities for deaf children have changed considerably since the
introduction of early diagnosis through newborn hearing screening and the
developing technologies, such as implantable devices and digital hearing aids.
This study sought the views of parents of deaf children across Europe to describe
the educational services their child receives and to explore their experiences of
these services.
An on-line survey was distributed across Europe; responses were received from
231 participants in 20 countries. Respondents provided information on their
child’s hearing loss, the hearing technology used, communication mode,
educational provision and any additional and specialist support received.
The full range of hearing loss was represented with 154 (65%) described as
having a profound hearing loss and 160 (68%) using at least one cochlear
implant. Children were educated in a variety of provision, with 68% receiving
their education in mainstream schools. 155 (65%) of children were described as
using only Spoken language in education, 64 (27%) using Spoken language with
Sign, and 18 (8%) using only Sign language.
43% of respondents reported that their child did not receive specialist support
from a Teacher of the deaf and 37% did not receive Speech and Language
therapy. Over one third of respondents were not happy with the level of support
their child received in education.
Parents also described their experiences of educational services for their child.
While many respondents reported that they are happy with the support their
child receives in school, much can be learned from both the positive and the
negative experiences of these families.
The major issues to emerge were:
All parents want their child to achieve their potential. Educational services can
support this by providing local access to good quality, appropriate provision.
Parents sometimes find it hard to access what they feel their child needs in
education.
Parents value a range of educational provision; they want it to be appropriate to
the needs of their individual child.
Schools and staff who understand deafness and the needs of deaf children are
fundamental to appropriate educational services.
Parents want education services to have appropriate expectations of their child’s
potential.
Recommendations:
The views and experiences of parents provided valuable information on the
education services for deaf children in Europe. Their insights lead us to make
recommendations to widen the availability of:
Up-to-date and accessible information for parents and those working with
deaf children
Training for mainstream teachers to understand deafness and its impact
on learning
Training for teachers on supporting the individual learning needs of deaf
children
Resources to support the use of technology and improve classroom
acoustics
Training to maintain and develop the knowledge and skills of specialist
professionals
Resources to support pragmatic, higher level language needs
... The speech output of deaf speakers is less intelligible and hence it is difficult for the listeners to understand the content of articulation . The acoustic characteristics to greater extent can be comprehended with available speech analyzing tech- niques [2][4] to contemplate for the posed problem. Deaf speakers born with severity or profundity or became deaf in infancy can achieve intelligible speech naturally by training or administering a battery of speech and language tasks [5], but most of such speakers do not produce legible speech due to the fact that speech intelligence is a correlated factor with residual hearing. ...
Background
Mild hearing and visual difficulties are common in childhood, and both may have implications for educational achievement. However, the impact of co-occurring common hearing and visual difficulties in childhood is not known.
Objective
To determine the prevalence and impact of co-occurring common hearing and visual difficulties of childhood on educational outcomes in primary and secondary school.
Methods
The sample was drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a longitudinal birth cohort study in England. The exposures were hearing and visual difficulties at age 7 (defined as conductive hearing loss or otitis media with effusion, and amblyopia, strabismus or reduced visual acuity, respectively). The outcomes measured were achievement of level 4 or above at Key Stage 2 (KS2) in English, Maths and Science, respectively, at age 11, and attainment of five or more General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs) at grades A*–C at age 16. Multiple logistic regression models assessed the relationship between hearing and visual difficulties and educational outcomes, adjusting for potential confounding factors.
Results
2909 children were included in the study; 261 had hearing difficulties, 189 had visual difficulties and 14 children had co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties. Children with co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties were less likely to achieve the national target at KS2 compared with children with normal hearing and vision, even after adjustment for confounding factors (OR 0.30, CI 0.15 to 0.61 for KS2 English). Differences in IQ, behaviour, attention and social cognition did not account for this relationship. The impact of co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties on GCSE results was explained largely by poor performance at KS2.
Conclusions
Co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties in childhood have an enduring negative impact on educational outcomes. Identification of affected children and early intervention in primary school is essential.
Research suggests that children with hearing loss face a number of difficulties in the education system, including socially. Although there has been much research with the severe to profound deaf population there has been little research into the life experiences of children with moderate hearing loss who attend mainstream secondary schools. This research sought to examine the experiences of social inclusion for five young people with moderate hearing loss. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews in the young person’s school setting and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Although each participant had distinctive experiences, there were a number of common themes that emerged indicating the factors that support social inclusion and those which create barriers for deaf children in schools. Implications for educational psychologists are considered and the limitations of the research are outlined.
