Pediatric Hearing Device Management: Professional Practices for Monitoring Aided Audibility

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore professional practices for monitoring aided audibility for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used to identify providers’ self-reported practice patterns for monitoring aided audibility for children who use hearing aids, cochlear implants, and bone-conduction hearing aids. Three surveys were used. Study Sample: Practicing audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and deaf educators providing services to children birth to six years of age who use hearing technology were recruited to participate. A total of 184 surveys were included in the analysis (96 hearing aid; 47 cochlear implant; 41 bone conduction hearing aid). Results: Practice gaps were identified, including infrequent use of parent questionnaires to explore how children are hearing at home and in other environments, lack of loaner equipment for some children when hearing devices were being repaired, and inconsistent monitoring of data logging to identify challenges with hearing aid use. Conclusions: Children who are DHH and their parents rely on professionals to provide evidence-based practices. This study revealed practice gaps related to monitoring audibility, suggesting opportunities for training to address provider confidence and consistent implementation of monitoring practices