Breidablik H J
Kommunelegekontoret i Sula, Langevåg.
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1998 Mar 30;118(9):1414-6.
The majority of hearing-aids are offered to elderly patients with presbyacusis. It is commonly assumed in the general population and among health professionals that many hearing-aids are not being used regularly on a daily basis. 83 patients over the age of 70 were visited unannounced and interviewed in their homes. They had received their first or replacement hearing-aid from six months to two years earlier. The main purpose of the interview was to examine to what extent the hearing-aids were in regular use. Nearly half of the patients said they wore their hearing-aid when they opened the front door and that they used it constantly during the day. This was also confirmed by relatives. One of five stated that they did not use the hearing-aid at all, or that they were not able to find it. The majority of users were satisfied with their hearing-aid, and relatives found it to be of great help. Even patients over 80 years old managed to fit their hearing-aid themselves, regulate the volume and change the batteries. There was an even distribution of all-day users regardless of the extent of hearing loss. Whether the hearing-aid was prescribed on the initiative of a third party or not made little difference to the extent of its use. A significant difference was found between first-time users and those with a replacement hearing-aid, replacement hearing-aids being used much more frequently. We conclude that hearing-aids are indeed being used by the majority of elderly people with impaired hearing and that they are of great benefit to them. It is difficult to predict from the medical history and audiometric data of the individual patient exactly how much the hearing-aid will be used later and how beneficial it will be. Patients should therefore be allowed to test a hearing-aid at home for a period of time and to return it if it is found to be of little benefit.
大多数助听器提供给患有老年性聋的老年患者。普通人群和卫生专业人员普遍认为，许多助听器并未被患者每天定期使用。研究人员对83名70岁以上的患者进行了不打招呼的家访并在其家中进行访谈。这些患者在6个月至2年前首次佩戴或更换了助听器。访谈的主要目的是调查助听器的定期使用程度。近一半的患者表示，他们在前门开门时会佩戴助听器，并且白天会持续使用。亲属也证实了这一点。五分之一的人表示他们根本不使用助听器，或者找不到助听器。大多数使用者对他们的助听器感到满意，亲属们也发现它很有帮助。甚至80岁以上的患者也能自己佩戴助听器、调节音量并更换电池。无论听力损失程度如何，全天使用者的分布都是均匀的。助听器是否由第三方主动开具处方对其使用程度影响不大。首次使用者和更换助听器的使用者之间存在显著差异，更换的助听器使用频率更高。我们得出结论，大多数听力受损的老年人确实在使用助听器，并且助听器对他们有很大益处。很难根据个体患者的病史和听力数据准确预测该患者日后对助听器的使用程度以及其益处大小。因此，应该允许患者在家中试用一段时间的助听器，如果发现益处不大可以退还。
