Restrictions in participation and mental state in new hearing aids users

Fifty elderly individuals, all new users of amplification, with mild to moderately severe post-lingual symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss were evaluated. They were then divided into three groups according to the degree of hearing loss. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly questionnaire and the Mini Mental State Examination were applied pre and post-fitting of the hearing aids (after 12 to 16 weeks). The analysis of variance and Bonferroni multiple comparisons with significance level of 0.05 were used as statistical analyses.

Results:

After acoustical stimulation through the use of hearing aids for 12 to 16 weeks, there was a reduction in the restriction of participation in daily activities both in the emotional and social/situational scales of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly. Elderly individuals with moderately severe loss reported higher hearing handicap at the social subscale and the global score. The Mini Mental State Examination analysis revealed higher scores for the Orientation to Time and Place, Repetition/Registration, Attention and Calculation, Recall, and Language domains at the post-fitting evaluation. Regarding gender, females presented lower mean scores in Attention and Calculation.

Conclusion:

Elderly individuals were benefited by the use of hearing aids, which reduced self-perception of hearing handicap and improved cognition aspects of Orientation to Time and Place, Repetition/Registration, Attention and Calculation, Recall, and Language.

Keywords:
Hearing aids; Hearing loss; Cognition; Aged; Surveys and questionnaires

Subscale	Gender	HI degree	n	Mean (before fitting)	Mean (after fitting)	Dif. Means
		Mild	7	26.3	6.0	20.3
	Male	Moderate	14	30.6	8.6	22.0
	Male	Mod. Severe	3	38.0	20.0	18.0
		Total	24	30.3	9.3	21.0
Emotional		Mild	5	28.4	10.0	18.4
	Female	Moderate	14	26.7	7.3	19.4
	Female	Mod. Severe	7	33.4	10.3	23.1
		Total	26	28.9	8.6	20.2
		Mild	12	27.2	7.7	19.5
	Total	Moderate	28	28.6	7.9	20.7
	Total	Mod. Severe	10	34.8	13.2	21.6
		Total	50	29.5	8.9	20.6
		Mild	7	30.0	9.7	20.3
	Male	Moderate	14	31.7	7.4	24.3
	Male	Mod. Severe	3	40.0	18.7	21.3
		Total	24	32.3	9.5	22.8
Social/Situational		Mild	5	28.8	10.8	18.0
	Female	Moderate	14	28.4	7.0	21.4
	Female	Mod. Severe	7	38.9	8.9	30.0
		Total	26	31.3	8.2	23.1
		Mild	12	29.5	10.2	19.3
	Total	Moderate	28	30.1	7.2	22.9
	Total	Mod. Severe	10	39.2	11.8	27.4
		Total	50	31.8	8.8	22.9

Gender	HI degree	n	Mean (before fitting)	Mean (after fitting)	Dif. Means
	Mild	7	56.3	15.7	40.6
Male	Moderate	14	62.3	16.3	46.0
Male	Mod. Severe	3	74.7	38.7	36.0
	Total	24	62.1	18.9	43.2
	Mild	5	55.2	20.8	34.4
Female	Moderate	14	55.1	14.3	40.9
Female	Mod. Severe	7	72.3	19.1	53.1
	Total	26	59.8	16.9	42.9
	Mild	12	55.8	17.8	38.0
Total	Moderate	28	58.7	15.3	43.4
Total	Mod. Severe	10	73.0	25.0	48.0
	Total	50	60.9	17.8	43.0

Gender	HI degree	n	Mean (before fitting)	Mean (after fitting)	Dif. Means
	Mild	7	25.3	29.4	4.1
Male	Moderate	14	21.8	27.4	5.6
Male	Mod. Severe	3	22.7	26.3	3.6
	Total	24	22.9	27.9	5.0
	Mild	5	22.2	28.4	6.2
Female	Moderate	14	22.2	28.1	5.9
Female	Mod. Severe	7	18.7	25.9	7.1
	Total	26	21.3	27.5	6.3
	Mild	12	24.0	29.0	5.0
Total	Moderate	28	22.0	27.8	5.8
Total	Mod. Severe	10	19.9	26.0	6.1
	Total	50	22.1	27.7	5.6

Gender	HI degree	n	Orientation to Time and Place		Repetition/Registration		Attention and Calculation		Recall		Language
Gender	HI degree	n	(before)	(after)	(before)	(after)	(before)	(after)	(before)	(after)	(before)	(after)
	Mild	7	8.4	10.0	2.9	3.0	4.4	4.6	2.1	3.0	7.4	8.9
Male	Moderate	14	7.8	9.6	2.7	3.0	3.1	3.7	1.3	2.9	6.9	8.3
Male	Mod. Severe	3	7.0	9.7	2.7	3.0	4.0	4.0	2.3	2.7	5.0	7.0
	Total	24	7.9	9.7	2.8	3.0	3.6	4.0	1.7	2.9	6.8	8.3
	Mild	5	8.0	10.0	3.0	3.0	3.2	4.0	0.6	3.0	7.4	8.4
Female	Moderate	14	8.0	9.8	2.8	3.0	2.4	3.5	1.6	2.9	7.4	8.6
Female	Mod. Severe	7	7.3	9.4	2.6	3.0	1.3	2.7	1.7	2.7	5.9	8.0
	Total	26	7.8	9.7	2.8	3.0	2.2	3.4	1.5	2.9	7.0	8.4
	Mild	12	8.3	10.0	2.9	3.0	3.9	4.3	1.5	3.0	7.4	8.7
Total	Moderate	28	7.9	9.7	2.8	3.0	2.8	3.6	1.5	2.9	7.1	8.5
Total	Mod. Severe	10	7.2	9.5	2.6	3.0	2.1	3.1	1.9	2.7	5.6	7.7
	Total	50	7.8	9.7	2.8	3.0	2.9	3.7	1.6	2.9	6.9	8.4

Instrument	Total/Subscale/Domain	n	Before fitting	After fitting	p-values
	Emotional	50	29.5	8.9	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
HHIE	Social	50	31.8	8.8	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
	Total	50	60.9	17.8	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
	Orientation to Time and Place	50	7.8	9.7	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
	Repetition/Registration	50	2.8	3	0.005^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
MMSE	Attention and Calculation	50	2.9	3.7	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
MMSE	Recall	50	1.6	2.9	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
	Language	50	6.9	8.4	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test
	Total	50	22.1	27.7	<0.001^* * Sgnificant values (p<0.005) - ANOVA test

Academia Brasileira de Audiologia Rua Itapeva, 202, conjunto 61, CEP 01332-000, Tel.: (11) 3253-8711, Fax: (11) 3253-8473 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revista@audiologiabrasil.org.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Corresponding author: Vivian Baptista da Luz. Email: vivianluz.fono@gmail.com