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

J Patient Exp. 2023 Oct 3:10:23743735231202654. doi: 10.1177/23743735231202654. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: audiology; children; deaf; hearing; pediatric; technology.