Consensus Practice Parameter: Audiological Assessment and Management of Unilateral Hearing Loss in Children

Objective: Provide recommendations to audiologists for the management of children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) and for needed research that can lend further insight on important unanswered questions.Design: An international panel of experts on children with UHL was convened following a day and a half of presentations on the same. Evidence reviewed for this parameter was gathered through web-based literature searches specifically designed for academic and health care resources, recent systematic reviews of literature, and new research presented at the conference that underwent peer review for publication by the time of this writing.Study Sample: Expert opinions and electronic databases including Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Google Scholar, PsycINFO, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Turning Research into Practice (TRIP) Database.Results: The resulting practice parameter requires a personalized, family-centered process: 1) routine surveillance of speech-language, psychosocial, auditory, and academic or pre-academic development; 2) medical assessments for determination of etiology of hearing loss; 3) assessment of hearing technologies; and 4) considerations for family-centered counseling.Conclusions: This practice parameter provides guidance to clinical audiologists on individualizing the management of children with UHL. In addition, the paper concludes with recommendations for research priorities