Implications of using the Hearing Aids on quality of life of elderly.

PURPOSE

To evaluate through standardized questionnaires the quality of life of elderly people with hearing loss diagnosed with and without the use of hearing aids (HA) and elderly without hearing complaints.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study with non probabilistic sample, divided into three groups divided as follows: 30 elderly people with diagnosed hearing loss and indication for use of individual sound amplification devices (hearing aids), but have not yet made use of the prosthesis; 30 individuals with hearing impairment who used hearing aids and 30 elderly without hearing complaints. Participants completed a questionnaire investigating sociodemographic and family data, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version (HHIE-S) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life - Short version (WHOQOL-BREF). In addition to the descriptive analysis of the data were performed tests to compare the three groups by applying analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Bonferroni post hoc test.

RESULTS

The three groups differed significantly in all domains of quality of life. The group of the elderly people with hearing loss diagnosed and with indication for the use of hearing aids presented lower scores and the group of the elderly with hearing disabilities that used the hearing aid and that the reference group. The AASI group presented the best quality of life results.

CONCLUSION

The hearing loss affects the quality of life of the elderly. The effective use of hearing aid is beneficial to this population, improving their living and health conditions.