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FM system usage and benefit for
children and young adults
Alison King
Principal Audiologist, Paediatric Services
Presentation to Audiology Australia National Conference 2010
Child & Young Adult FM Survey – Oct. 2009
 Mailed to all clients <21 who had an FM system listed
as a current device (n=6248)
 1337 respondents (21.4%)
–
11 (0.8%) Indigenous
 72.2% had FM input to one ear; 27.8% to both ears
 FM styles used with hearing aid and/or implant
–
–
–
Ear level (DAI) = 86%
Induction loop = 8.7%
• 18% of implantees vs 6% of HA users
Body Level 4.8%
 87% satisfied or very satisfied with their FM system.
Age distribution
60.0%
Proportion of client base
50.0%
40.0%
% total surveyed
30.0%
% total responses
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
1-2yrs
3-5yrs
6-11yrs
Age group
12-17yrs
18-20yrs
Hearing Loss Distribution
Hearing Loss of Respondents
45.00%
40.00%
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
% total surveyed
20.00%
% total responses
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
0-30dB
31-60dB
61-90dB
Better ear 3FAHL
91+dB
Primary device configuration
70.0%
Proportion of total respondents
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
Chronic
Conductive
Unilateral
Mild
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
One H/aid
Two
H/Aids
One Aid +
CI
One CI
Only
Two CI
FM Only
Usage Patterns
 85.8% used their FM for at least a few lessons per week in an
educational setting
58.6% “almost every lesson”
– 38.6% used the FM in other situations.
–
 17% have to listen to >1 teacher during class on most days
 16% use in a room with Sound field system most days
 14.2% NEVER used their FM system.
– Most common reasons: “I don’t think I need it” or “I don’t like to wear
it”
– Not related to degree hearing loss
 14.5% (164) had a transmitter that enabled the user to change
microphone settings
–
15.9% (30) of these changed setting in different environments.
teacher
EI
Gp. discuss
Which factors were related to FM benefit?
 Overall benefit score derived from sum of scores
across situations
 Age
–
Younger children derived more benefit than older children
 Severity of hearing loss
–
The more severe the hearing loss, the greater the reported
benefit
 Frequency of technical problems
–
Less benefit reported if respondent answered “often” or “all
the time” for problems with distortion/interference,
transmission range or intermittency.
Which factors were not related to FM benefit?
 Gender
 The Hearing Aid/Cochlear implant fitting
configuration
 Unilateral vs bilateral FM input
Summary
 FM satisfaction rates were high.
 FM systems are most commonly used in
educational settings, but deliver significant
benefit when used in other situations.
–
Encourage wider application of FM systems
 16-17% of respondents are in educational
settings that pose additional complexities
(multi-teacher, SFAS)
–
Challenges for instruction & support
Summary
 Technical problems affect benefit of FMs
–
Implications for
•
Parent/teacher/student education
•
Support & follow up by family audiologist,
educational audiologist and visiting teachers.
Thank you
 Ron Oong, Australian Hearing
 Mark Seeto, NAL
 Harvey Dillon, NAL
 Renay Hawkins, Australian Hearing