Heari ng aid fitting involves numerous issues that must be investigated -from the device supply all the way to results achieved with it in order to improve its results in planning Auditory Health Care. Aims: to verify difficulties related to device use, batteries and ear molds handling, the very characteristics of sound amplification, and to discuss factors that impact audiological rehabilitation in this group of patients. Materials and Methods: 31 individuals, from 12 to 77 years age, with bilaterally symmetrical hearing losses, sensorineural or mixed, from moderate to moderately severe degrees and hearing aid users of digital or hybrid hearing aids. We carried out an interview approaching topics related to device use, battery handling, ear molds and hearing aids, as well as sound amplification characteristics. Results: 12.90%, 58.06% and 67.74% of the interviewees presented difficulties related to battery, ear molds or capsules and amplification characteristics, respectively. Conclusion: the majority of the individuals presented some kind of complaint related to hearing aids characteristics, and difficulties related to users' expectations, communication skills and monetary cost and the Municipal Health Care Network, which all interfered in the audiological rehabilitation.
A larger number of research studies has been performed with different people and objectives and have shown that the sentence recognition test in noise is the best instrument to evaluate individuals' daily communication. However, we believe these tests are not applied so frequently because they require a lot of research to establish the parameters and variables related to their application and interpretation of the results. Aim: To check the reliability of the recognition threshold of the sentences in quiet and in noise for a group of young normal listeners. Study design: transversal cohort. Material and Method: The group comprised 40 subjects, 20 males and 20 females, with ages between 18 and 28 and all of them with normal hearing threshold. First, we applied the Basic Audiological Evaluation and after this, the Sentence Recognition Threshold test in quiet (LRSS) and in noise (LRSR). The sentences and the noise (fixed in 65 dB HL) were presented monoaurally, by earphones through "ascending-descending" strategy. The test and retest were done in different evaluation sessions, with an interval of seven days between them, respecting the same hour of evaluation. Results: The results showed strong positive statistically significant correlation between the test and retest of LRSS, both for right ear (r = 0.6107) and left ear (r = 0.5853), as S/N ratio, for right ear (r = 0.5711) and for left ear (r = 0.5867) for the assessed individuals. Conclusion: In the end of this study, we concluded that LRSS and S/N ratio obtained from the Portuguese Sentence List Test showed to be highly reliable, with strong positive correlation when compared to the results obtained in different sessions of evaluation in a group of young normal listeners.
An efficient rehabilitation must be able to reduce impairment effects over the auditory and communication skills of individuals and promote psychosocial well being. Aims: check the feasibility of using self-assessment questionnaires and compare the results achieved by hearing aid fitting in users from a federal public institution, with and without complaints related to hearing amplification characteristics. Materials and Methods: 25 individuals, from 13 to 77 years of age, users of hearing aids. The HHIE-S/ HHIA (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version or for Adult) and APHAB (Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit) self-assessment questionnaires used with individuals without (Group 1) and with complaints related to amplification characteristics (Group 2). Results: we did not find significant differences between the HHIE-S/HHIA and APHAB groups; except in APHAB's ease of communication item, where Group 1 seemed to benefit more. Moreover, we noticed a significant reduction in hearing disability with the use of hearing aids in favorable communication situations, noisy environments for both groups. Conclusion: these questionnaires proved to be valuable for predicting the difficulties faced by the users, and significant differences were found in favorable communication situations, where the group without complaints had the most benefit.
the majority of the individuals presented some kind of complaint related to hearing aids characteristics, and difficulties related to users' expectations, communication skills and monetary cost and the Municipal Health Care Network, which all interfered in the audiological rehabilitation.
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