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Patients' opinions of bone-anchored vs conventional hearing aids
E A Mylanus1, A F Snik, C W Cremers
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Objective:
To evaluate patients' opinions of the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) compared with a conventional hearing aid.
Design:
Prospective study with two questionnaires. Questionnaire A consisted of questions that compared patients' previous hearing aid with the BAHA. Questionnaire B consisted of questions about the patients' experiences with the hearing aids.
Patients:
Sixty-five consecutive patients who had used conventional hearing aids.
Setting:
Tertiary referral center.
Intervention:
A percutaneous titanium implant in the temporal bone for the BAHA.
Main Outcome Measure:
Qualitative descriptive results of questionnaire A and difference scores from questionnaire B comparing conventional hearing aids and the BAHA.
Results:
Patients favored the BAHA to the conventional bone-conduction hearing aid. Patients with BAHA reported a significant improvement in speech recognition in quiet and in noise, in sound quality, and in comfort (P < .01). The results with the BAHA compared with the air-conduction hearing aid were ambiguous for speech recognition, but all the patients reported a decrease in ear infections.
Conclusion:
The BAHA is a good alternative for the conventional bone-conduction hearing aid if a patient can no longer use an air-conduction hearing aid.