Self-assessed satisfaction levels in elderly hearing aid, eyeglass, and denture wearers. A cross-modality comparison.

Self-assessed satisfaction ratings with a seven-point scale were used to evaluate user success with recent technology (canal type) hearing aids in an elderly population. To evaluate possible age-related influences on satisfaction judgments, data were also gathered from separate groups of eyeglass and denture wearers from the same population. Highest satisfaction responses were reported by denture wearers, whereas the lowest satisfaction judgments were reported by hearing aid wearers. Among hearing aid subjects, satisfaction was inversely related to age. Compared with published hearing aid satisfaction data, study findings supported the conclusion that canal type hearing aids are neither superior or inferior to other styles of hearing instruments with this age group, in so far as user satisfaction is concerned.