Kids sought for hearing-loss study

A study at Boys Town National Research Hospital is aimed at making sure that the help children receive for mild and moderately severe hearing loss is making a difference.

Boys Town is continuing to recruit children for the five-year study, which is in its second year and is funded by an $8.9 million federal grant.

Nationally researchers have tended to focus on children who are deaf or nearly deaf instead of those with less severe hearing problems, said Mary Pat Moeller, director of the Center for Childhood Deafness at Boys Town.

That attention has been warranted because deaf children face the biggest challenges, she said.

But children with less severe hearing problems also face difficulties, which sometimes can be overlooked by parents, teachers and others, she said.

Newborn hearing screenings that have become standard practice in Nebraska and other states in the past decade have been effective at identifying children with hearing loss, Moeller said.

The study is looking at whether the children are getting the right help after they are identified and whether it is making a difference in improving their speech, language and social skills, she said.

A child identified with mild hearing loss, for example, can respond to lots of sounds, making it appear that special help isn't necessary, she said.

“The needs are underestimated,'' she said.

The study also is looking at whether hearing aids are making a difference in children's speech and language abilities, she said. Boys Town is conducting the study with the University of Iowa and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The goal is to have 300 to 400 children with mild to moderately severe hearing loss in the study, and so far there are about 170. The study involves children from age six months to six years. Parents have been receptive to letting their children participate, but more are needed, Moeller said.

Contact the writer:

444-1122, michael.oconnor@owh.com

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