Use of Hearing Aids and Functional Capacity in Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals

Abstract

Introduction Hearing loss is among the sensory changes strongly associated with loss of functional capacity. Objective It aims to determine whether the use of hearing aid contributes to the improvement of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) for middle aged and elderly hearing-impaired individuals. Methods This is a descriptive, longitudinal, and interventional study. We evaluated 17 subjects, 13 (76.5%) female, aged between 58 and 96 years old (mean 77.1 ± 10.4 years). All were new users of hearing aids. Evaluation included social history, pure tone audiometry, and scale of IADL developed by Lawton and Brody. The subjects were presented daily life situations and were expected to respond if they could do them without assistance (3 points), partially assisted (2 points) or if they were unable to perform them (1 point). IADL was applied before the use of hearing aids adaptation and after a three- and six-month period of use. Results Data analysis revealed that before the use of hearing aids the average score obtained by the subjects was 22.94 ± 4.04 points. Three months after beginning the use the average score was 23.29 ± 4.12 and after six months the average score was 23.71 ± 3.69 points. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between scores obtained before the use of hearing aids and six months post-fitting (p = 0.015*) Conclusion The use of hearing aids among the subjects evaluated promoted positive changes in performing IADL, especially to using the telephone.

Trajectories of Limitations in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living in Frail Older Adults With Vision, Hearing, or Dual Sensory Loss

“…Some of our findings were unexpected: grooming, handling medication, and telephone use appeared to be minimally affected by SL throughout the entire age range; yet, the effect of age varied between SL groups. The gentle decline in telephone use may be due to technological advances, ie availability and use of hearing and vision aids, or specialized (electronic) devices for visually or auditory impaired enhancing ease of telephone use (30,33), factors that we were unable to account for.…”

“…This may have led to an underestimation of trajectories for persons with severe or changes in SL. However, one study found no difference in IADL limitations between hearing-aid users and nonusers after 5 years (29) whereas a small study on 17 individuals with 6 months follow-up suggests improvement in telephone use after wearing a hearing aid (30). Third, the heterogeneity within TOPICS-MDS as a pooled data set of different studies varying in population size and reporting levels across variables may be of concern.…”

Hörgeräte: Indikationen, Technologie, Anpassung und Qualitätskontrolle

“…Allerdings helfen Hörgeräte den betroffenen Schwerhörigen auch bei der Bewältigung von Aufgaben des täglichen Lebens, wie eine Untersuchung aus Brasilien an 17 frisch versorgten Hörgeräteträgern herausfand. Sie verbesserten sich nach 6 Monaten deutlich in Aktivitäten des täglichen Lebens, besonders im Gebrauch des Telefons [31].…”

Identification of a novel mutation in SLC26A4 gene in a Chinese family with enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome

“…The degree of hearing impairment was classified on the basis of the pure tone average (PTA) in the speech frequencies 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. Normal hearing was classified as PTA 25 dB HL, mild hearing loss as PTA >25 dB HL and 40 dB HL, moderate hearing loss as PTA >40 dB HL and 60 dB HL, severe hearing loss as PTA >60 dB HL and 80 dB HL, and profound hearing loss as PTA >80 dB HL [19]. The temporal bone imaging results were determined using computed tomography (CT).…”