Short-Term Pediatric Acclimatization to Adaptive Hearing Aid Technology

Abstract

Purpose: This pilot study assessed the perceptual, cognitive and academic learning effects of an adaptive integrated directionality and noise reduction hearing aid program in pediatric users. Methods: Fifteen pediatric hearing aid users (6 to 12 years old) participated in a hearing aid pilot with pre- to post-comparisons. Participants received new bilateral, individually fitted Oticon OPN hearing aids programmed with OpenSound Navigator (OSN) processing. Word recognition in noise, sentence repetition in quiet, nonword repetition, vocabulary learning, selective attention, executive function, memory, reading and mathematical abilities were measured within one week of the initial hearing aid fitting and two months post-fit. Caregivers completed questionnaires assessing their child's listening and communication abilities prior to study enrollment and after two months of using the study hearing aids. Results: Caregiver reporting indicated significant improvements in speech and sound perception, spatial sound awareness and the ability to participate in conversations. However, there was no positive change in performance in any of the measured skills. Mathematical scores significantly declined after two months. Conclusions: OSN provided a perceived improvement in functional benefit, compared to their previous hearing aids, as reported by caregivers. However, there was no positive change in listening skills, cognition and academic success after two months of using OSN. Findings may have been impacted by reporter bias, limited sample size and a relatively short trial period. This study took place during the summer when participants were out of school which may have influenced the decline in mathematical scores. The results support further exploration with age and audiogram-matched controls, larger sample sizes, and longer test-retest intervals that correspond to the academic school year.

Adaptive hearing aid benefit in children with mild/moderate hearing loss: A registered, double-blind, randomized clinical trial

“…It is possible that the difference between these studies was due to the reduced variance associated with retesting the same participants in two test conditions. Previously, we found that word repetition in noise did not improve after 2-3 months of using OSN in a new fitting, but caregiver reports of ability improved over the study period (Pinkl et al, 2021). Here, we report improved word repetition in noise after 7-13 months of continuous use of OSN and Omni.…”

“…The system updates 500 times/second across 16 independent frequency channels, enabling a rapid, spatial-based adaptive system with high selectivity to speech sounds (Le Goff et al, 2016). In a previous, exploratory study (Pinkl et al, 2021), we showed that 6-12 year old children fitted with OSN-enabled hearing aids for two months received enhanced caregiver assessments of their speech and sound perception, spatial sound awareness and ability to participate in conversations. However, their measured speech perception, language, cognitive and academic skills were unaffected by using the hearing aids.…”

“…2. Many of the procedures have been described in detail previously (Pinkl et al, 2021) and will be presented only briefly here. All audiological visits followed a checklist of procedures to ensure that all study audiologists followed the same evaluation and fit protocols.…”