Consensus practice parameter: audiological assessment and management of unilateral hearing loss in children

Objective: Provide recommendations to audiologists for the management of children with unilateral hearing
loss (UHL) and for needed research that can lend further insight into important unanswered questions.
Design: An international panel of experts on children with UHL was convened following a day and a half
of presentations on the same. The evidence reviewed for this parameter was gathered through webbased
literature searches specifically designed for academic and health care resources, recent systematic
reviews of literature, and new research presented at the conference that underwent peer review for publication
by the time of this writing.
Study sample: Expert opinions and electronic databases including Cumulative Index to Nursing and
Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC),
Google Scholar, PsycINFO, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Turning Research into Practice (TRIP) Database.
Results: The resulting practice parameter requires a personalised, family-centred process: (1) routine
surveillance of speech-language, psychosocial, auditory, and academic or pre-academic development;
(2) medical assessments for determination of aetiology of hearing loss; (3) assessment of hearing technologies;
and (4) considerations for family-centred counselling.
Conclusions: This practice parameter provides guidance to clinical audiologists on individualising the
management of children with UHL. In addition, the paper concludes with recommendations for
research priorities.