Dr Vicky Zhang1,2, Dr Teresa Ching1,3,4,5, Ms Angela Wong1, Ms Sanna Hou1, Mr Christopher Flynn1,6, Ms Jane Oliver1,6, Ms Michelle Weiss1,6, Ms Stacey Milner1,6
1National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Australia, 2Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia, 3Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University, Australia, 4NextSense Institute, Sydney, Australia, 5University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 6Hearing Australia, , Australia
Objectives:
The aims of this study were to describe the audiological characteristics and aetiology of children with congenital unilateral hearing loss (UHL), examine the age at which reliable behavioural audiograms can be obtained, and changes in hearing sensitivity from diagnosis at birth to the first reliable behavioural audiogram.
Method:
This study included a sample of 138 children who were diagnosed with UHL via newborn hearing screening programs, and who had reliable behavioural audiograms before 7 years of age. Information about diagnosis, audiological characteristics and aetiological details were extracted from hospital reports and clinical database. Regression analysis will be used to examine the potential reasons influencing the delays in getting reliable behavioural audiograms.
Results:
The mean age at the first reliable behavioural audiogram was 2.9 years (SD 1.4; Range 0.7- 6.9). Among these children, 10 of them had absent or abnormal auditory nerves, 26 were born with atresia or microtia, 28 were children with Auditory Neuropathy, 8 had Cytomegalovirus, 4 had large vestibular aqueduct syndrome, 3 had Down’s/Goldenhar/Noonan’s syndromes, and the remaining 59 children had no reported aetiology. Of the 138 children, forty-five of them (32.6%) had progressive HL in the impaired ear, and three children (2.2%) had progressed to bilateral hearing loss. Eighty-eight children (64%) showed stable HL between diagnosis and first reliable behavioural audiogram evaluation. Two children (1.4%) had bilateral normal hearing by 2.5 years old. We will address the possible reasons influencing the age at which behavioural audiograms can be obtained.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest that it is important to continually monitor the hearing status of children with UHL in both ears well into pre-school age.
Biography:
Dr. Zhang is a Senior Research Audiologist and line manager at the National Acoustic Laboratories in Australia. Vicky is also an honorary research fellow of the Linguistics Department at Macquarie University. Her current research focuses on investigating efficacy of early intervention for children with hearing loss, developing tools for assessing and evaluating speech and language outcomes of people with hearing loss, and improving alternative signal processing techniques to conventional hearing screening methods. Vicky has co-authored several scientific papers and has substantial experience in student supervision, training, and presenting at a range of national and international forums.