Trial of Affordable Bone Conduction Headphones to Support a Deaf Child's Education in Malawi.

A 13-year-old child with hearing loss secondary to chronic serous otitis media and bilateral tympanic perforations had been unable to hear the teacher at school and unable to pass end-of-year exams. In 2020, she trialed a bone conduction headset paired by Bluetooth to a remote microphone and used this to support her hearing at school, socializing with friends and in the family home. Due to the COVID (COronaVIrus Disease) pandemic and a cholera epidemic, she was followed up 3 years later. The child (now 16 years old) reported using the headset every day for 3 years. Able to hear the teacher, she reported having passed school exams every year since using the device, and now had ambitions to study medicine.

Digital health education: the need for a digitally ready workforce.

Digital health education develops an understanding of the pragmatic use of digital technologies, including health apps, artificial intelligence and wearables, in the National Health Service (NHS). Staff should feel confident accessing up-to-date, quality-assured digital health solutions.Digital health is a high priority in government, NHS organisations and Royal Colleges. However, there is a gap between what is expected and the education of staff or medical students to enable implementation.Digital health education needs to be up to date and universally included within training, continuing professional development activities and medical school curriculums.During COVID-19, more families across the UK became digitally enabled with school, council, charities and governments providing access to devices, WiFi and mobile data for those that needed it. Improved digital access brings equalities in access to health information and healthcare professionals. Health app use sharply rose during COVID-19, as patients self-managed and took control of their conditions, but most health apps do not reach NHS standards.Paediatricians are well positioned to advise on appropriate health app use and advocate for improved patient access to solutions.Many paediatricians adopted remote video consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic but could soon adopt more digital health strategies to remotely track, monitor and manage conditions remotely.Patient management now includes remote consultations and digital health solutions; therefore, medical histories should capture digital access, environments and literacy.This article explains the importance of digital health education, lists accessible resources and provides examples of health apps that can be recommended.

Speech discrimination and word identification with a consumer-level bone-conduction headset and remote microphone for children with normal hearing.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the use of bone-conduction headsets paired to a wireless, remote microphone on speech discrimination and word identification for children with normal hearing. DESIGN: Children were tested with and without the headset, using the McCormick speech discrimination test in quiet and in speech-shaped noise to measure word-discrimination thresholds. Additionally, open-set word identification in noise was assessed while children were simultaneously engaged in a visual-monitoring task. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty normal-hearing children, aged 4-11 years. RESULTS: Median word-discrimination threshold in quiet (n = 20) was 20.5 dB(A) without a headset and 11.5 dB(A) with a headset (Z = -3.826, p = 0.0001). In noise, the median word-discrimination threshold (n = 20) was 52 dB(A) without a headset and 40.5 dB(A) with a headset (Z = -3.926, p< 0.0001). For open-set word identification (n = 11), children performed significantly better with a headset than without it, with an average improvement of 23 percentage points (t(10) = -5.227, p = 0.0004, two tailed). CONCLUSIONS: A bone-conduction headset paired to a Bluetooth microphone improved discrimination of distant speech in quiet and in noise and open-set word identification in noise.

Using a Bone-Conduction Headset to Improve Speech Discrimination in Children With Otitis Media With Effusion.

The recommended management for children with otitis media with effusion (OME) is 'watchful waiting' before considering grommet surgery. During this time speech and language, listening skills, quality of life, social skills, and outcomes of education can be jeopardized. Air-conduction (AC) hearing aids are problematic due to fluctuating AC hearing loss. Bone-conduction (BC) hearing is stable, but BC hearing aids can be uncomfortable. Both types of hearing aids are costly. Given the high prevalence of OME and the transitory nature of the accompanying hearing loss, cost-effective solutions are needed. The leisure industry has developed relatively inexpensive, comfortable, high-quality BC headsets for transmission of speech or music. This study assessed whether these headsets, paired with a remote microphone, improve speech discrimination for children with OME. Nineteen children aged 3 to 6 years receiving recommended management in the United Kingdom for children with OME participated. Word-discrimination thresholds were measured in a sound-treated room in quiet and with 65 dB(A) speech-shaped noise, with and without a headset. The median threshold in quiet (N = 17) was 39 dB(A) (range: 23-59) without a headset and 23 dB(A) (range: 9-35) with a headset (Z = -3.519, p < .001). The median threshold in noise (N = 19) was 59 dB(A) (range: 50-63) without a headset and 45 dB(A) (range: 32-50) with a headset (Z = -3.825, p < .001). Thus, the use of a BC headset paired with a remote microphone significantly improved speech discrimination in quiet and in noise for children with OME.