Systematic Review of QoL in BAHI: Conductive Versus Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss

CITATION: Théorêt K, et al. Systematic review of quality of life in bone anchored hearing: conductive vs. unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Laryngoscope. 2025;135:3472-3484. doi:10.1002/lary.32229.

COMMENT: This is a systematic review that evaluated the differences in disease-specific quality of life benefits experienced by BAHI users between those with U-SNHL and CHL. The article finds that while both groups of patients experience clinically meaningful benefit from BAHI, patients with CHL report greater benefits from BAHI than those with U-SNHL, with higher scores on domains relating to communication ease, clarity of sounds, and their overall health and psychosocial status.

The article guides clinicians on the expected improvements that patients with different types of hearing loss can expect following BAHI. Patients with CHL are excellent candidates for BAHI. Patients with U-SNHL can also expect benefit from BAHI, but to a lesser extent than those with CHL. This provides credence to careful consideration of other options, including cochlear implantation and CROS (contralateral routing of signal) hearing aids in those with U-SNHL before moving forward with BAHI.—Robert Hong, MD, PhD