2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
DUKE ENERGY CONVENTION CENTER
Hearing Aid Fitting Rates in Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children Identified in Louisiana
Hearing aid fittings should occur within 1 month of identification, yet few children in Louisiana are receiving them within this recommended timeline. This gap in fitting puts deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) children who include audition in their communication strategies at greater risk of language delay. A communication strategy utilizing any degree of audition depends on adequate auditory access. For most children, this will not be possible without a hearing device. To determine timeliness of hearing aid fittings in Louisiana, we reviewed records of children born from 2017 to 2021 and identified as D/HH. Of the 599 children identified as D/HH from these birth years, only 61% had a device fitting reported at any time point. Only 35% of children for whom hearing aids were recommended received them by 6 months of age, and only 66% received them by 1 year of age. Hearing aids were not recommended for 90 children (2/3 unilateral, 1/3 bilateral). For 63 children, hearing aids were recommended, but either the parents refused hearing aids, or the child was reported lost to follow-up for the hearing aid evaluation (44% unilateral, 56% bilateral). When considering all children identified as D/HH, less than one-quarter had a hearing aid fitting by 6 months of age reported to EHDI. Despite early identification, timeliness of hearing aid fittings for D/HH children remains challenging in Louisiana. For children whose families have chosen to include audition in their communication strategies, early auditory access is crucial. Future efforts should strive toward closing the hearing aid fitting gap by identifying barriers families face to receiving timely device fittings.
- Identify the percentage of D/HH children in Louisiana who are reported to have received a hearing device at any time point.
- List the 3 most common reasons that newly identified D/HH children in Louisiana did not receive hearing aids.
- Compare the laterality and hearing levels of children in Louisiana who received hearing devices to those who did not.
Poster:
3420032_15623DanielleMercer.pdf
Presenter: Danielle Mercer
Danielle Mercer, AuD System Development Coordinator
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Louisiana Department of Health-Early Hearing Detection and Intervention.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Tri Tran, MD, MPH Senior Epidemiologist
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Dawne McCabe, BS Data Coordinator
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Terri Ibieta, MEd, is the EHDI Coordinator for the Louisiana Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program and has worked with the EHDI program for the past 20 years. She is a certified teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing with 15 years of experience providing early intervention services to children who are deaf or hard of hearing and providing family education and training. She has also taught deaf/hard-of-hearing children in preschool and elementary educational settings.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Dana Hubbard, MEd, is the program manager for the Louisiana Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (LA EHDI) program, housed in the Louisiana Department of Health. She has a background in speech and hearing, as well as human development and family science. Dana has over 20 years of extensive and varied experience as a certified teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, which includes early intervention support and education to families and children birth to age 3 in the Part C system and state school for the Deaf, as well as classroom and individual instruction with students, and their families, from ages 3-22, itinerantly and as coordinator of a district program for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.