alison king principal audiologist, paediatric services presentation to audiology australia national...
TRANSCRIPT
Alison King Principal Audiologist, Paediatric ServicesPresentation to Audiology Australia National Conference 2010
FM system usage and benefit for children and young adults
Child & Young Adult FM Survey – Oct. 2009
Mailed to all clients <21 who had an FM system listed as a current device (n=6248)
1337 respondents (21.4%)– 11 (0.8%) Indigenous
72.2% had FM input to one ear; 27.8% to both ears
FM styles used with hearing aid and/or implant– Ear level (DAI) = 86%– Induction loop = 8.7%
• 18% of implantees vs 6% of HA users– Body Level 4.8%
87% satisfied or very satisfied with their FM system.
Age distribution
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
1-2yrs 3-5yrs 6-11yrs 12-17yrs 18-20yrs
Age group
Pro
port
ion
of c
lien
t bas
e
% total surveyed
% total responses
Hearing Loss DistributionHearing Loss of Respondents
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
45.00%
0-30dB 31-60dB 61-90dB 91+dB
Better ear 3FAHL
% total surveyed
% total responses
Primary device configuration
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
One H/aid TwoH/Aids
One Aid +CI
One CIOnly
Two CI FM Only
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f to
tal
resp
on
den
ts
Chronic ConductiveUnilateral
Mild
Usage Patterns 85.8% used their FM for at least a few lessons per week in
an educational setting– 58.6% “almost every lesson”– 38.6% used the FM in other situations.
17% have to listen to >1 teacher during class on most days
16% use in a room with Sound field system most days
14.2% NEVER used their FM system.– Most common reasons: “I don’t think I need it” or “I don’t like
to wear it”– Not related to degree hearing loss
14.5% (164) had a transmitter that enabled the user to change microphone settings
– 15.9% (30) of these changed setting in different environments.
EI teacher
Gp. discuss
Which factors were related to FM benefit?
Overall benefit score derived from sum of scores across situations
Age– Younger children derived more benefit than older
children
Severity of hearing loss– The more severe the hearing loss, the greater the
reported benefit
Frequency of technical problems– Less benefit reported if respondent answered “often” or
“all the time” for problems with distortion/interference, transmission range or intermittency.
Which factors were not related to FM benefit?
Gender
The Hearing Aid/Cochlear implant fitting configuration
Unilateral vs bilateral FM input
Summary
FM satisfaction rates were high.
FM systems are most commonly used in educational settings, but deliver significant benefit when used in other situations.
– Encourage wider application of FM systems
16-17% of respondents are in educational settings that pose additional complexities (multi-teacher, SFAS)
– Challenges for instruction & support
Summary
Technical problems affect benefit of FMs– Implications for
• Parent/teacher/student education
• Support & follow up by family audiologist, educational audiologist and visiting teachers.
Thank you
Ron Oong, Australian Hearing
Mark Seeto, NAL
Harvey Dillon, NAL
Renay Hawkins, Australian Hearing