Hearing aid satisfaction in the elderly with hearing impairment

Aims: Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases. In developed countries, almost 85% of those aged 75-84 are suffering from hearing loss. Hearing

aid is the most common and practical way to help this people. The aim of thisstudy was to estimatethe hearing aid satisfactionamong the elderly with hearing

impairment who use different hearing aid technologies.

Materials and Methods: Forty patients with hearing loss fitted with different technologies of hearing aids (analogue, digital and programmable) were included. “Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life” (SADL) questionnaire was used to assess the benefits yielded by the hearing aids.

Results: In evaluation of satisfaction with hearing aid on the elderly groups, the positive effects showed the highest mean score among SADL subscales in 65-74

and 75-90 age groups. Elderly groups were very satisfied in positive effects subscale. Negative features showed the least mean score and assessed as relatively dissatisfied. A significant differencewas observedbetween different age groups in terms of satisfaction rate of hearing aids (P= 0.02). Patients with different hearing aid technologies demonstrated no significant satisfaction differences.

Conclusion:The present study demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction among elderly which were using hearing aids. It seems that satisfaction level in any dimension is not changing significantly by using former or modern hearing aids technologies, except that the former types of hearing aids cost less. So, these hearing aid types can be recommended for hearing-impaired aged people.