Screening for Hearing Loss After Childhood Cancer

NCT ID: NCT06036407

Last Updated: 2025-05-30

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

476 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-07-05

Study Completion Date

2024-11-01

Brief Summary

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The HEAR-study pilots and evaluates a national, low-threshold screening program to detect hearing problems in Swiss adult childhood cancer survivors.

Participants will conduct a hearing test in a local hearing aid shop and report about their experiences at the shop in questionnaires and interviews. The screening program will be evaluated using the RE-AIM framework.

Detailed Description

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Hearing loss is an adverse event in childhood cancer survivors (CCS). It is caused by ototoxic cancer treatments, in particular platinum chemotherapy, cranial radiation with doses of ≥30 Gray, and surgery involving the auditory system.

Undetected hearing loss, even if mild, can have a strong impact on life. It affects language acquisition in infants, school performance and communication, thus interfering with survivors' professional life, social integration, and quality of life. Although hearing loss is irreversible in most CCS, it can be treated with speech therapy or hearing aids; therefore, early detection is important. Unfortunately, one third of CCS in Switzerland with ototoxic treatment did not get auditory follow-up screening after completion of acute cancer treatment.

CCS in follow-up care are often discharged to primary care, particularly for late effects that are not life threatening such as hearing loss. Multidisciplinary follow-up clinics for adult CCS were recently initiated in Switzerland. These provide risk-adapted individual examinations and counseling for CCS by organizing several medical examinations within one or two days, but capacity is limited. Additionally, extended visits in large hospitals are costly for the healthcare system and time-consuming for CCS. Low-threshold screening programs that are easily accessible and less time-consuming might therefore be a valuable addition to improve screening for hearing loss among CCS.

The main rationale for this study is to test a novel community-based, low-threshold screening approach for hearing loss in CCS in Switzerland. The screening program is tested and evaluated using the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework for assessing health interventions including reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance (see outcome measures). The second aim is to use the data obtained to close knowledge gaps on risk factors of ototoxicity after childhood cancer. This will eventually lead to improved care and higher quality of life for affected CCS.

Conditions

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Childhood Cancer Hearing Loss

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

SCREENING

Blinding Strategy

NONE

All participants undergo a hearing test (intervention).

Study Groups

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Participants

Participants make an appointment at a hearing aid shop in Switzerland. They get the results right after the hearing test and may take it to their respective physician if wanted.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Hearing test

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Participants visit a local hearing aid shop to assess their hearing function

Interventions

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Hearing test

Participants visit a local hearing aid shop to assess their hearing function

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Other Intervention Names

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Hearing evaluation Hearing assessment Hearing screening

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Diagnosed with childhood cancer according to the international classification of childhood cancer, edition 3 (ICCC3) main groups
* Diagnosed before the age 21
* Diagnosed in Switzerland
* Registered in the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry
* Recovered \& survived ≥2 years after diagnosis
* Diagnosed between 1976-2019
* Treated in one of the clinics of the Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group
* Exposed to any chemotherapy and/or radiation to the head, neck or spine (TBI included)
* Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

* Recently contacted for other studies (January 2022-July 2022)
* Not German/French speaking
* No postal address available
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Krebsforschung Schweiz, Bern, Switzerland

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Bern

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Claudia Kuehni, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern

Locations

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Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine

Bern, , Switzerland

Site Status

Countries

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Switzerland

References

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Weiss A, Sommer G, Kasteler R, Scheinemann K, Grotzer M, Kompis M, Kuehni CE; Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group (SPOG). Long-term auditory complications after childhood cancer: A report from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2017 Feb;64(2):364-373. doi: 10.1002/pbc.26212. Epub 2016 Sep 21.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27650356 (View on PubMed)

Clemens E, van den Heuvel-Eibrink MM, Mulder RL, Kremer LCM, Hudson MM, Skinner R, Constine LS, Bass JK, Kuehni CE, Langer T, van Dalen EC, Bardi E, Bonne NX, Brock PR, Brooks B, Carleton B, Caron E, Chang KW, Johnston K, Knight K, Nathan PC, Orgel E, Prasad PK, Rottenberg J, Scheinemann K, de Vries ACH, Walwyn T, Weiss A, Am Zehnhoff-Dinnesen A, Cohn RJ, Landier W; International Guideline Harmonization Group ototoxicity group. Recommendations for ototoxicity surveillance for childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors: a report from the International Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Guideline Harmonization Group in collaboration with the PanCare Consortium. Lancet Oncol. 2019 Jan;20(1):e29-e41. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30858-1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30614474 (View on PubMed)

Bass JK, Liu W, Banerjee P, Brinkman TM, Mulrooney DA, Gajjar A, Pappo AS, Merchant TE, Armstrong GT, Srivastava D, Robison LL, Hudson MM, Krull KR. Association of Hearing Impairment With Neurocognition in Survivors of Childhood Cancer. JAMA Oncol. 2020 Sep 1;6(9):1363-1371. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.2822.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32729886 (View on PubMed)

Weiss A, Sommer G, Schindera C, Wengenroth L, Karow A, Diezi M, Michel G, Kuehni CE; Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group (SPOG). Hearing loss and quality of life in survivors of paediatric CNS tumours and other cancers. Qual Life Res. 2019 Feb;28(2):515-521. doi: 10.1007/s11136-018-2021-2. Epub 2018 Oct 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30306534 (View on PubMed)

Khairi Md Daud M, Noor RM, Rahman NA, Sidek DS, Mohamad A. The effect of mild hearing loss on academic performance in primary school children. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2010 Jan;74(1):67-70. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2009.10.013. Epub 2009 Nov 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19913305 (View on PubMed)

Weiss A, Kuonen R, Brockmeier H, Grotzer M, Candreia C, Maire R, Senn P, Stieger C, Rosenfeld J, Veraguth D, Kompis M, Scheinemann K, Kuehni CE; Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group (SPOG). Audiological monitoring in Swiss childhood cancer patients. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2018 Mar;65(3). doi: 10.1002/pbc.26877. Epub 2017 Dec 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29230928 (View on PubMed)

Babecoff S, Mermillod F, Marino D, Gayet-Ageron A, Ansari M, Fernandez E, Gumy-Pause F. Long-term follow-up for childhood cancer survivors: the Geneva experience. Swiss Med Wkly. 2022 Apr 7;152:w30153. doi: 10.4414/smw.2022.w30153. eCollection 2022 Mar 28.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35429234 (View on PubMed)

Michel G, Kuehni CE, Rebholz CE, Zimmermann K, Eiser C, Rueegg CS, von der Weid NX; Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group (SPOG). Can health beliefs help in explaining attendance to follow-up care? The Swiss childhood cancer survivor study. Psychooncology. 2011 Oct;20(10):1034-43. doi: 10.1002/pon.1823. Epub 2010 Aug 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20687196 (View on PubMed)

Michel G, Gianinazzi ME, Eiser C, Bergstraesser E, Vetsch J, von der Weid N, Kuehni CE; Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group. Preferences for long-term follow-up care in childhood cancer survivors. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2016 Nov;25(6):1024-1033. doi: 10.1111/ecc.12560. Epub 2016 Aug 23.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27550385 (View on PubMed)

Jorger P, Nigg C, Mader L, Strebel S, Kompis M, Tomasikova Z, Schindera C, Michel G, von der Weid NX, Ansari M, Waespe N, Kuehni CE. A Health Service Research Study on a Low-Threshold Hearing Screening Program for Childhood Cancer Survivors in Switzerland: Protocol for the HEAR Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 May 21;14:e63627. doi: 10.2196/63627.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 40397950 (View on PubMed)

Jorger P, Nigg C, Zarkovic M, Sommer G, Kompis M, Michel G, Ansari M, Waespe N, Kuehni CE. Awareness about the risk of hearing loss after ototoxic treatments in Swiss childhood cancer survivors. Patient Educ Couns. 2025 Jul;136:108764. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2025.108764. Epub 2025 Mar 27.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 40179545 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

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https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/63627

Study protocol of the HEAR-study

https://www.researchprotocols.org/2025/1/e63627/authors

A Health Service Research Study on a Low-Threshold Hearing Screening Program for Childhood Cancer Survivors in Switzerland: Protocol for the HEAR Study

Other Identifiers

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SCCSS_Ototox

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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