120 Chapter 4.2 1.1 Objectives This study reviews all children at a paediatric tertiary centre who were fitted with an adhesive retained bone conducting hearing device since 2015. It aims to identify compliance rates, usability and factors that will help guide patient selection and application in children with pure conductive hearing losses. It also expresses this center’s personal experiences and patient feedback. Audiological outcomes are not considered in this study. 2. Material and methods 2.1 Study design A retrospective case series of all paediatric patients ages 5-16 years who have been fitted with the adhesive retained bone conducting hearing system - ADHEAR (MED-EL, Austria). 2.2 Patients 82 children (40 female, 42 male) aged 5yrs and above were provided with 89 adhesive hearing systems between 2015-July 2019. All patients had a pure conductive hearing loss greater than or equal to 25 dB HL in the better hearing cochlea. 2.3 Study device end setting Use of the adhesive retained BC hearing system - ADHEAR (MED-EL, Austria) were followed up for a minimum of 9 months following fitting. Data was retrospectively collected in March 2020 from medical and audiological electronic notes, providing a follow up of 9 months to 4.5 years. Complication, patient feedback and changes in aid preference were noted. 2.4 Subjective assessments Patient demographics, aetiology of hearing loss, compliance of use of the adhesive device were recorded on an excel spreadsheet for comparison, patient personal experiences recorded. In those patients who were found to be non-users, alternative hearing aids and cause of non- use were recorded. 3. Results 82 children over the age of 5 years were fitted with 89 adhesive retrained bone conducting device. 40 female, 42 males. 7 children (8.5%) were fitted with bilateral hearing systems. The mean age of the study cohort was 11 years.
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