Download Children first fitted in 2009.

A profile of hearing impaired children in Australia
Alison King
Principal Audiologist, Paediatric Services
Overview – 31 December 2009
 15,515 Australian children who are fitted
amplification for a permanent or long term
hearing loss.
Highest so far
 45.9% Female; 52.8% Male
–
1.3% info unavailable
 1,544 (10%) of aided children identify as
Indigenous.
–
Highest so far
68% of these children seen on outreach visits
 2035 children first fitted in 2009.
–
310 Indigenous children first fitted in 2009
Highest so far
Where do our aided children live?
What sort of hearing loss do they have?
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0-30
31-60
61-90
3 FAHL in the better ear
90+
Hearing loss distribution for aided children –
Dec 2006 vs. Dec 2009
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
2006
20%
2009
15%
10%
5%
0%
0-30
31-60
61-90
3FAHL in the better ear
90+
When did they get their first hearing aids?
Children first fitted in 2009.
250
No. Children
200
150
100
50
0
<1 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Age in years
Have fitting patterns changed over time?
Proportion of new fittings
6%
5%
4%
2006
2007
3%
2008
2009
2%
1%
0%
<1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Age group
What is the hearing loss profile for each age group?
Children first fitted in 2009.
Proportion of children in age group
Distribution of HL according to age at first fitting
80%
70%
60%
0-30
50%
31-60
40%
61-90
90+
30%
20%
10%
0%
<1
1
2
3
4
Age (yrs)
5
6
7
Newborn Hearing Screening has increased early fitting
rates
Not all HI babies born
in 2009 will have been
ascertained by
31/12/09
250
No. fitted < 6 months
200
150
100
50
0
2000 2001
2002 2003
2004 2005
Birth Year
2006 2007
2008 2009
Summary
 Over ¾ of aided children have a mild or moderate
degree of hearing loss in their better ear.
 The proportion of aided children who have a mild hearing
loss has increased over the past 3 years.
 Rollout of NHS continues to increase the proportion of
children who receive their first hearing aids before 6
months of age
–
However the numbers fitted are still less than
predicted from an incidence of 1.2 per
thousand births
 Another large group of children are first fitted with
hearing aids around school-entry age
–
And these tend to be children with average
hearing levels < 30dBHL in the better ear.
Aided Indigenous Children
Where do aided Indigenous children live?
Distribution by state/territory
% Total Aided Children
40%
% Total Aided Indigenous
Children
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
NSW
VIC
QLD
WA
SA
TAS
ACT
NT
The number of aided Indigenous children has
increased by 67.5% over the past 3 years
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar- Jun- Sep- Dec- Mar07
07
07
07
08
08
08
08
09
09 09
09
10
Fitting patterns differ for Indigenous children
16.0%
Entire Client Base
Indigenous clients
Proportion of newly fitted
14.0%
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
<1 1
2
3 4
5
6 7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Age at first fitting
Hearing Loss Distribution – Indigenous children
compared with total aided children
60.0%
Indigneous children
All aided children
Proportion of children
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
0-30
31-60
61-90
Better Ear 3FAHL
90+
Summary
 Indigenous children form a higher proportion of
the aided child client base than predicted from
population data
–
Reflects the higher rates of chronic OM
 Increase in fittings over the past 3 years
 Most fittings occur in early primary school
–
Reflects predominance of school-based service delivery
models of detection & intervention
 Fitting rates for children < 3 years are low.
–
Exploring alternative service delivery models, portable
infant test equipment, educational strategies
Hearing Aid Usage – Children aged
less than 13 years.
2705 respondents (40.7%)
Hours usage by age group – children <13y
Paediatric Hearing Aid Use & Satisfaction Survey, 2008
“5” = 8
h/day
“3” = 4- 8
h/day
Hours usage by hearing loss – children <13y
Paediatric Hearing Aid Use & Satisfaction Survey, 2008
“5” = 8+
hrs/day
“3” = 4-8
hrs/day
Fitting configuration – severe hearing loss
Never
0%
One Aid Two Aids
7%
71%
One Aid
+ CI
CI Only
Two CI
17%
2.1%
1.7%
% Respondents
Fitting configuration – children with
profound Hearing Loss
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
< 3years
3-12 years
Never
One Aid
Two
Aids
One Aid
+ CI
One CI
only
Two CI
Summary
 Older children use their hearing aids more often than
younger children
–
Greatest variability in usage amongst infants
 HA usage increases with degree of hearing loss
–
Except for profound losses, probably due to children
using cochlear implants
 The majority of children who have a profound loss have
at least one cochlear implant and approximately one in
five children with a severe loss in their better ear have a
cochlear implant
Thanks to
–
Ron Oong, Business Analyst, Australian
Hearing
–
Prof. Harvey Dillon, National Acoustic
Laboratories.
Further demographic information can be found at
www.hearing.com.au