ABSTRACT
Objective :
To
determine the characteristics of sound localisation in children
with
unilateral microtia and atresia (UMA) when unaided and aided with a
non-surgical bone conduction device (BCD).
Design:Retrospective
data analysis.
Setting :
Tertiary
referral centre.
Participants: Eleven children with UMA and 11 age-matched
children with NH as control.
Intervention: A non-surgical BCD.
Main outcomes and measures:The
sound field hearing threshold, word recognition score (WRS), speech
reception threshold, subjective questionnaire of the international
outcome inventory for hearing aids, and sound localisation tests.
Results : The average unaided WRS and speech-to-noise ratio
(SNR) for all UMA patients was 18.27 ± 14.63 % and -5 ± 1.18 dB sound
pressure level (SPL), while the average aided WRS and SNR conspicuously
changed to 85.45 ± 7.38 % and -7.73 ± 1.42 dB SPL,
respectively.
Compared with the stimulated UHL, some children with UMA were able to
detect sound sources and this sound localisation ability did not
deteriorate with a BCD.
Conclusions : For children with UMA, the non-surgical BCD
provided a definite benefit on speech recognition and high participant
satisfaction without
deteriorating
their sound localisation abilities. It is an efficient and safe solution
for the early hearing intervention of these patients.