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Describe the ear and hearing outcomes in Aboriginal infants in an Australian urban area. Aboriginal infants enrolled in the Djaalinj Waakinj prospective cohort study had ear health screenings at ages 2-4, 6-8 and 12-18 months and audiological assessment at ∼12 months of age. Sociodemographic, environmental characteristics, otoscopy, otoacoustic emissions, tympanometry and visual reinforcement audiometry data were collected.

Investigating the impact of early childhood ventilation tube insertion (VTI) on long-term language outcomes. 

Tamara Chris Valerie Veselinovic Brennan-Jones Swift BSc(Hons) MClinAud PhD PhD Clinical Research Fellow Head, Ear and Hearing Health Aboriginal

Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy are two of the most commonly performed ENT procedures in children, with over 500,000 cases performed annually in the United States. Whilst generally considered a safe and well-tolerated operation, it is not without its risks and complications including pain, nausea, anorexia and most importantly bleeding and post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage.

Otitis media has a high prevalence in childhood, and grommet insertion is the most common surgical treatment for OM. The public health system in Australia faces considerable strains, including high demand for Ear, Nose and Throat specialists. Extending the scope of practice for audiologists to manage post-operative care for children receiving grommets has the potential to alleviate this burden.

In Australian remote communities, First Nations children with otitis media (OM)-related hearing loss are disproportionately at risk of developmental delay and poor school performance, compared to those with normal hearing. Our objective was to compare OM-related hearing loss in children randomised to one of 2 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) formulations.

Chris Valerie Brennan-Jones Swift PhD Head, Ear and Hearing Health Aboriginal Co-Director, Djaalinj Waakinj Centre for Ear and Hearing Health;

Telemedicine, particularly real time video-otoscopy in rural and remote Australia holds great potential in assessing and managing otology conditions. There is good evidence of store and forward images for assessment, however limited evidence exists for the use of real-time video-otoscopy. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of using real time video-otoscopy, compared to standard store and forward still image otoscopy, in a paediatric population.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of a hospital-based asynchronous ear, nose, and throat telehealth service (the Ear Portal) in reducing cost and improving access for children with otitis media.

One third of children require repeat ventilation tube insertion (VTI) for otitis media. Disease recurrence is associated with persistent middle ear bacterial biofilms. With demonstration that Dornase alfa (a DNase) disrupts middle ear effusion biofilms ex vivo, we identified potential for this as an anti-biofilm therapy to prevent repeat VTI. First, safety and tolerability needed to be measured.