Utility of a multidisciplinary approach to pediatric hearing loss

Introduction: Because management of hearing loss (HL) often requires multiple specialists, a multidisciplinary clinic, Pediatric Hearing Management Clinic, (PHMC) was established to coordinate care for children with newly diagnosed HL.

Methods: Retrospective review of patients seen in PHMC from February 2009 to April 2010.

Results: Clinic information was available for 40/41 of the patients and was included in the study. 37/41 had confirmed HL. HL was categorized into bilateral/symmetric [15], bilateral/asymmetric [12] and unilateral [10]. Sixteen patients subsequently received hearing amplification after PHMC visit. Follow up was successfully established with otolaryngology in 23/32 (72%) patients, audiology in 29/40 (73%) patients, speech pathology in 11/12 (92%) patients, and ophthalmology in 15/30 (50%) patients. Twenty-nine patients completed evaluations of PHMC. The mean score in six total categories was 3.8/4.0 (4.0 as the highest satisfaction).

Conclusion: A multidisciplinary clinic approach provides a convenient and effective way to coordinate care for children with HL.