Hearing Care Center at Tallinn Central Children`s Policlinic

Tallinn, Ravi street 27, phone 6207341
e-mail: porthos@hot.ee

History

The Hearing Care Center for Children was founded in January 1979. as a small hearing examination cabinet.Preparations to open the Cabinet had started in Octoberr 1977. Initially, the Cabinet was situated in the outskirts of the town, within the premises of Tallinn I Paediatric Hospital at Hiiu.

The main building of Tallinn Paediatric Hospital at Hiiu

The household building of Tallinn Paediatric Hospital where we started

Statistical data on children examined for various hearing problems is available since 1979.
By audiological testing has been screened patients with permanent hearing problems, the children, who needed hearing aids and special education.
Number of children 0-18 years old with permanent hearing problems in North Estonia and West Estonia.

Year		Number of patients
1979		169
1980		196
1981		177
1982		179
1983		182
1984		199
1985		191
1986		241
1987		256
1988		285
1989		288
1990		295
1991		329
1992		319
1993		318
1994		321
1995		354
1996		395
1997		417
1998		406
1999		422
2000		417

top

Present-Day Situation

By now Hearing Care Center has PREVENTIVE DIRECTION .
The main emphasis of the work conducted by the Hearing Care Center is on the early prevention of hearing problems.
The causes of temporary hearing problems are established (adenoides, sinusitis, otitis media serous). Treating the causes of the temporary hearing problems makes it possible to avoid permanent damage of the auditory system.
A significant number of children with temporary hearing problems are screened during the routine pre-school prophylactic medical examinations of the 6-year olds. But every year, there have also been some 5-8 children, entering the primary school, whose hearing problems are permanent and who would need a hearing aid to be able to cope.

In case the results of Boel test of a 7-8 months old (these tests are routinely conducted at the Healhy Child Division of the Policlinic) is conclusive, the patient is referred to the Hearing Care Center for further examination with the help of more sophisticated equipment.

Medical nurse of Healthy Child Division making a Boel test

Hard-to diagnose child patients are referred to the Hearing Care Center for consultation by the ENT specialists of North Estonia and West Estonia, the Neurology and Otorhinolaryngology Department of Tallinn Mustamäe Childrens Hospital and by all Tallinn Outpatients Departments. The referring specialists can be ENT specialists, neurologists, but also special language teachers.
The Hearing Care Center works in close cooperation with the genetics and special language teachers, working with hearing impaired Estonian and Russian children.

top

The Equipment available for hearing examination

Hearing test to an infant baby with hand-held free field audiometer

Hearing test to an infant baby with hand-held free field audiometer (Danish PA-2 model)

Impedance audiometer AZ-26 (Danish)

Impedance-audiometric examination has been adopted as a means of indirect assessment of the hearing of a small infant - in the case the examination is successful.

Pure tone audiometry with playing method. Pure tone audiometer - model MA-31 (MA -50) from Germany. This method can be used with children 2,5-3 years: when hearing a sound, the child adds a detail to a toy, to be assembled.


Pure tone audiometry with playing method (pure tone audiometer MA-30;MA-50 - Germany)

Beep Show Audiometer PS-2 (Danish)

A Danish Peep Show Audiometer PS-2 is used to test hearing of children aged 4-8. On hearing a sound the child presses the button, pressing the button puts an electric trsin in motion. In case the child presses the button without hearing a sound signal, the trsin will not start. Playing with an electric train can make the examination a very thrilling experience for a child in suitable age group.

Danish Pure-tone audimeter AD-27 is adopted for examination involving children more than 8 years old. The applience also includes a speech audiometry facility, free field audiometry capability to access the effectiveness of hearing aids. Both - the impedance audiometer and the pure-tone audiometer are connected to a computer and the results of all the tests and examinations of children with permanent hearing problems are filed in a database together with an anamnese and can be sorted by different dignoses.

We have a computer since January 1999

top

The staff

Dr. Ene Post - the otorhinolaryngologist-audiologist has an experience of hearing examination going back to 1963. She has specialised in the field of children since 1977.
The staff of the Centre also includes an audiometrician-nurse and both - an Estonian language and a Russian language special teacher, teaching speech to the hearing impaired and deaf children.

Estonian language special teacher for hearing impaired children with her patient

Russian language special teacher for hearing impaired children getting first acquainted with her little patient

top

Miscellaneous

A short analysis of the causes of sensorineural hearing loss (based on 100 cases)
These children have visited the Hearing Center on a regular bases. They have serious or deep-set hering deficiency. They are studying at the special schools. There are few cases, where the child attends an ordinary school wearing the hearing aid.

The causes:

1. Heredity		53%
2. Meningitis combined with ototoxic antibiotics		14%
3. A birth trauma, caecarean, fetal asphyxy		9%
4. Illness of the mother during pregnancy, harmful agents in the work environment of the mother during the pregnancy, the threat abortion		8%
5. Pneumonia combined with ototoxic antibiotics		4%
6. Multiple congenital anomalies		2%
7. TCauses not known		10%

top

Hearing Care Center at Tallinn Central Children`s Policlinic

History

Present-Day Situation

The Equipment available for hearing examination

The staff

Miscellaneous

Links