✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists fitting children with mild bilateral hearing loss should consider formally incorporating validated PROMs (patient-reported questionnaires) into their decision-making process, though the study design limits how strongly this can be recommended yet.
Hearing aid fitting decisions for children with mild bilateral hearing loss remain contested; integrating patient-reported outcomes could standardize and improve the evidence base for these high-stakes pediatric decisions.
- 01Study evaluates PROMs (self- or parent-report questionnaires) as a tool to guide hearing aid fitting in children with mild bilateral hearing loss.
- 02Published in European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology (2026).
- 03Mild bilateral hearing loss in children is a clinically contentious area where fitting thresholds vary widely across clinics.
- 04PROMs can capture listening difficulties and quality-of-life impacts not visible on the audiogram alone.
- 05Findings may support a more child-centered, outcomes-driven approach to amplification decisions.
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures can support clinical decision-making for hearing aid fitting in children with mild bilateral hearing loss.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42816286
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.anorl.2026.09.002.
- Journal
- European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Diseases
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Children with mild bilateral hearing loss being considered for hearing aid fitting
- Intervention
- Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) integrated into hearing aid fitting decisions
Primary outcomes
Utility of PROMs in supporting hearing aid fitting decisions; Listening-related outcomes and quality of life in children with mild bilateral hearing loss