Bone-anchored hearing aids in unilateral inner ear deafness

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Otolaryngology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Unilateral deafness presents challenges in sound localization and speech perception.
• Conventional contralateral routing of sound (CROS) hearing aids and bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHA) are used to manage single-sided deafness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) with a conventional contralateral routing of sound (CROS) hearing aid in patients with unilateral deafness.
• To evaluate the impact of these devices on sound localization, speech perception, and real-life hearing experiences.

Main Methods:

• Nine patients with unilateral deafness were assessed in three conditions: unaided, conventional CROS hearing aid, and BAHA.
• Objective measures included sound localization and speech perception tests.
• Subjective benefit was assessed using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) questionnaire.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in sound localization were observed between the unaided, CROS, and BAHA conditions.
• Both CROS and BAHA reduced the head-shadow effect by 2 dB for speech perception compared to unaided.
• BAHA demonstrated significant patient-reported benefits in noisy and reverberant environments, and reduced aversion to loud sounds.

Conclusions:

• BAHA provides significant subjective benefits for patients with unilateral deafness, particularly in challenging listening situations.
• While objective measures showed similar improvements for CROS and BAHA regarding the head-shadow effect, subjective experiences favored BAHA.
• BAHA represents a viable and beneficial treatment option for unilateral deafness, enhancing quality of life in real-world listening scenarios.