PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Yousef, Medhat F.
AU  - Dhayan, Ziyad I.
AU  - Islam, Tahera
AU  - Alotabi, Fahad Z.
AU  - Hajr, Eman A
TI  - Potential barriers to the daily use of hearing aids in children
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2023.44.4.20220766
DP  - 2023 Apr 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 406--412
VI  - 44
IP  - 4
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/44/4/406.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/44/4/406.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2023 Apr 01; 44
AB  - Objectives: To identify factors affecting hearing aid usage in children.Methods: This retrospective study examined 59 hearing-impaired children fitted with hearing aids for at least 6 months. Patients with moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss with complete data-logging information stored in the hearing aid programming file from January 2020 until June 2021 were included. Children with concomitant disabilities were excluded. Data for audiological assessments included hearing assessment, aided hearing thresholds, and aided speech tests.Results: The children’s age ranged from 6 months to 6 years. Average daily hearing aid usage was 5.5 hour (h) after 3 months, 7 h after 6 months; and 8.7± 4.7 h as reported by parents. Patient age was positively correlated with data logging at 3 months (r=0.414, p=0.01) and 6 months (r=0.406, p=0.01).Conclusion: We found that children’s age, gender, severity of hearing loss, residential location, and parents’ educational level had a significant effect on daily hearing aid usage. Whereas, family size and a family history of hearing loss or use of amplification devices had no discernible influence.