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Using a Bone-Conduction Headset to Improve Speech Discrimination in Children With Otitis Media With Effusion.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Holland Brown, Tamsin 
Salorio-Corbetto, Marina  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5621-5284
Gray, Roger 
James Best, Alexandra 
Marriage, Josephine E 

Abstract

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.

Description

Keywords

assistive listening devices, bone conduction, glue ear, otitis media with effusion, watchful waiting, Bone Conduction, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Hearing Aids, Hearing Loss, Conductive, Humans, Language, Male, Otitis Media with Effusion, Quality of Life, Speech Perception, Treatment Outcome, United Kingdom

Journal Title

Trends Hear

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2331-2165
2331-2165

Volume Title

23

Publisher

SAGE Publications
Sponsorship
The main source of funding for this study was the Cambridge Hearing Trust. T. H. B. was awarded the British Association of Paediatricians in Audiology Prize in 2017, and J. E. M. and M. S.-C. were jointly granted the Stuart Gatehouse Applied Research Grant 2015 by the British Society of Audiology, both toward the Bone conduction In Glue ear study.