Hearing rehabilitation of children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe the audiological characteristics and the type of intervention chosen on unilateral hearing loss cases in children and adolescents as well as to analyze correlations between the degree of hearing loss, the indication and the use of electronic devices. METHODS: Observational, descriptive and retrospective study, carried out with information of 34 medical records from children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss, assessed by two auditory rehabilitation services of medium complexity, throughout 2016 to 2019. Descriptive and Inferential statistical analysis were performed with the data. RESULTS: A predominance of profound sensorineural unilateral hearing loss in the right ear, of pre-lingual character, with 20.6% of malformations. The most adopted intervention was the hearing aid indication, although its use is low, regardless of the degree of the hearing loss. An association was found between the degree of the hearing loss and the healthcare professionals in indicating the use of the devices. CONCLUSION: The indication of hearing aids is the most frequent and this decision is influenced by the degree of the hearing loss, in which the devices are mostly indicated for mild to severe losses, with bigger divergence of conduct for profound hearing losses.