Most common additional diagnoses of children with hearing devices
Jasmin Filip1, Heike van de Sand2, Elena Pützer1
1University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Special Needs Education (d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing), Essen, Germany.
Insights
Children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) often have additional diagnoses. This study found high frequencies of developmental disorders and ear diseases in DHH children, highlighting their complex health needs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Otolaryngology
- Medical Informatics
Background:
- Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children represent a diverse population.
- Understanding co-occurring conditions is crucial for comprehensive care.
- Claims data offers a valuable resource for population health studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and quantify common additional diagnoses in children with hearing loss.
- To analyze the frequency of these comorbidities using health insurance claims data.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of claims data from a large statutory health insurance provider (BARMER).
- Focus on the 2010 birth cohort, identifying children with hearing loss (n=474) within their first 10 years.
- Classification of additional diagnoses using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10-GM.
Main Results:
- High prevalence of ear diseases (95.4%) and developmental disorders (81.9%) among DHH children.
- Identification of various other significant co-occurring diagnoses.
- Demonstration of heterogeneity within the DHH pediatric population regarding comorbidities.
Conclusions:
- Deaf and hard-of-hearing children frequently present with multiple additional diagnoses beyond hearing impairment.
- Developmental disorders are a significant comorbidity in this population.
- These findings underscore the need for integrated and individualized healthcare approaches for DHH children.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to analyze with the help of claims data which additional diagnoses are common for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) and at what frequency. Claims data sets from statutory health insurance providers contain different pieces of information, including medical diagnoses. The analysis of claims data was conducted for the 2010 birth cohort of 38,705 children who were insured by the BARMER health insurance company. This birth cohort was then narrowed down to all children who received a prescription for a hearing device within the first 10 years of their life (n = 474). For these 474 children, we assessed the most common additional diagnoses coded according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10-GM and analyzed their frequency. Apart from the high frequency of ear diseases such as "Diseases of middle ear and mastoid" (ICD category H65-H75, 95.4%), we also found a high frequency for "Developmental disorders" (ICD category F80-F89, 81.9%) and various other additional diagnoses. Our results show that DHH children are a heterogenous group with a high frequency of additional diagnoses.
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