Thursday, April 20, 2006
BTE vs. ITE
bte - behind the ear hearing aids
ite - in the ear hearing aids
what's with people (old people, to stress) being so vain! most of our patients here (mostly geriatrics - 50-90++) prefer to have ite aids. but unfortunately, the national health service (nhs) finds it an "inefficient way of spending money". so they are given bte instead. on the bright side, most of it are digital aids na.
there were some centres in uk which conducted research on whether ite aids would be better than the bte in terms of performance, feasibility and people's responses to them. considering all factors are equal (age, hearing loss, dexterity, etc.) the study shows (as we were told) that there are no known advantages aside from cosmetic reasons. in fact, there are more disadvantages to it than good:
1. actual aid goes in the ear so if it gets blocked with wax or condensation (i've never seen such filthy ears anywhere else!), aid would need to be sent back to manufacturer for cleaning. people will be without an aid for a while (and they will grumble that they couldn't hear!) they can't be given a replacement aid as they will need their own mould.
2. ite aids are smaller so are more fiddly to use. our patients are mostly grannies and they couldn't even change the batteries themselves! what more miniature aids? (and they complain about ther fingers/hands being arthritic, numb, yada yada) - duh!
3. they are more expensive than the bte aids. nhs are actually cutting down on their expenses bec. of the millions of deficit they have. hmmnn...bte aids with staff fitting them (meaning: shorter waiting times) or ite aids with no one to fit them (miles long waiting time)....nuninu..
4. high maintenance.
advantages and disadvantages of bte and ite aids here
i know people should have an option of which type of aid they get. but beggars can't be choosy. and people should not get cross at you for not giving them what they want. hey, i'm not the one who makes the policy here! they moan and whinge like duh! me magagawa ba ako?!
nakakainis pa, they believe that digital = ite. they couldn't grasp the concept of 'digital'. they think it's about the size and not the performance. duh!
anyways, not all types of hearing loss can be fitted with an ite aid. very limited din ang capabilities nila. you just don't fit them bec. you want to! it should be based on what you need. and people here could be so stubborn. mas pipiliin pa ung vanity than necessity. considering no one will even notice! more than 50% of them are wearing one naman so why feel insecure and be embarrassed? mas nakakahiya naman not getting what's being said to you all the time.
and they moan about not getting what they paid for (with their taxes). hello, ako ba hindi nagbabayad ng tax ko!? sorry nan, u're barking at the wrong tree! =p
Posted by QT at 4/20/2006 12:12:00 pm
