TY - JOUR T1 - Bone conduction hearing kit for children with glue ear JF - BMJ Innovations JO - BMJ Innov SP - 600 LP - 603 DO - 10.1136/bmjinnov-2021-000676 VL - 7 IS - 4 AU - Tamsin Mary Holland Brown AU - Isobel Fitzgerald O’Connor AU - Jessica Bewick AU - Colin Morley Y1 - 2021/10/01 UR - http://innovations.bmj.com/content/7/4/600.abstract N2 - Summary boxWhat are the new findings?Cheap alternatives to hearing aids can be used for children with glue ear.Care for glue ear can be delivered remotely.The kit (Bone conduction (BC) headphones, microphone and Hear Glue Ear app) is acceptable to children and their families.How might it impact on healthcare in the future?Further clinical trials could evidence cost-effectiveness and clinical effectiveness of the solution.Grommets may be able to be avoided in many cases of glue ear.Mild, fluctuating cases of glue ear could be offered early hearing support.Schools may need further sensory support training to assist children in the classroom situation.BackgroundHearing loss is one of the most common disabilities in childhood.1 One in 10 children starting school in UK or Europe have hearing loss secondary to glue ear (Otitis Media with Effusion (OME)).1 2 This is much higher in lower income countries. Eighty per cent of children have at least one episode of glue ear, where fluid builds up behind their eardrum after a cough, cold or ear infection. OME often self-resolves or children can be offered grommets (also known as ‘tympanostomy tubes’) if persistent.3 Grommets ‘only offer short term hearing improvement’4 of ~12 dB, diminishing to ~4 dB 6–9 months later,4 therefore grommets improve a child’s symptoms for about 6 months while ‘natural resolution continues’.3 Grommet insertion is common, requiring a general anaesthetic, and risks include opening the middle ear to infection (requiring treatment in approximately a third of patients), perforation (1% of cases) and variable scarring the eardrum (tympanosclerosis).Hearing aids are not an easy solution, since glue ear fluctuates and multiple audiology appointments are needed to avoid overamplification or underamplification.Children need to hear to learn. Poor hearing can affect speech, language, social skills, listening, attention and learning. While some children catch up learning after an episode of glue ear, others do not. Glue … ER -