There is a particularly high incidence of chronic otitis media among children in Greenland. The course of the disease among Greenlandic children is often lengthy and complicated with a chronic hole in the eardrum and ear discharge, which results in hearing impairment. Hearing is essential for children's well-being and development, and it can have serious consequences for children if they have hearing difficulties for long periods of time.
Previous studies have shown that hearing loss in children is associated with poorer social skills, learning difficulties, reduced well-being at school, loneliness, low self-esteem, the feeling of increased stress at school, high stress levels and reduced emotional development.
The treatment of hearing loss in children with chronic otitis media is a bone anchored hearing aid. A bone anchored hearing aid sits behind the ear and is held in place by a soft band. Ordinary hearing aids cannot be used when fluid comes out of the ears. In Greenland, almost no children are offered this treatment, as they do not have access to specialists.
Purpose
The goal of the Nipilik project is to develop a suitable method so that the healthcare professionals in Greenland can dispense the hearing aids with tele audiological support from specialists in Copenhagen. In this way, children can avoid the negative consequences of hearing loss. If the children in the project get a positive effect from the hearing aids, , the project can thus be the first step towards introducing the treatment into the health care system in Greenland.
Our role in the project is to conduct a qualitative study of how the children and their families live with the hearing aids in everyday life in order to gain an understanding of the children and families' motivation and experience of the devices, use of the hearing aid in everyday life, and potential barriers to lasting use.
Method
22 children with hearing loss in both ears due to otitis media will be offered a hearing aid mounted on a soft band or on a cap.
The child's use of the device will be followed on an ongoing basis with interviews and tele audiological consultations by a specialist in Copenhagen. In addition, a questionnaire will be prepared to examine the child's well-being, social conditions, and quality of life before and after the hearing aid is used.
In addition, a qualitative study is conducted where 3-6 families outside Nuuk are selected to participate.
In Nuuk, 4 families are selected to be interviewed by researchers twice each about 3 months apart.
Project period
October 2022- December 2023
Funding
The qualitative study is supported by the Karen Elise Jensen Foundation
Collaboration
Department of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery, Queen Ingrid's Hospital, Nuuk
Centre for Hearing and Balance, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen
Queen Ingrid's Health Centre, Nuuk