OBJECTIVES: To verify the effective use of hearing aids by the elderly, its social and personal benefits and its relation to cognitive performance. METHOD: An observational, cross-sectional study carried out at Hospital das Clínicas - UFMG, with 15 individuals aged over 65 years and users of hearing aids for four months. We used the IOI-HA, speech recognition threshold and Mini Mental State Examination - Mini Mental. For comparison of results, users of hearing aids were divided in two groups: normal Mini Mental (NM) and altered Mini Mental (AM). RESULTS: When compared to an average value of the threshold for speech recognition, both groups showed benefit with the use of hearing aids. In all variables studied by means of IOI-HA, we observed better results in the NM group, without statistical significance. As for daily use, 50% of the elderly from NM group and 40% of the AM group use it for over 8 hours/day. Regarding satisfaction, 80% of those in NM group believe that the quality of life improved through the use of hearing aids, while 100% of subjects in the AM group reported little or no improvement in the quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the use of hearing aids provided effective, social and personal benefits to all elderly, regardless of the results of the Mini Mental, and allowed them to return to communicative relations and reduce the perception of hearing handicap. However, it was observed a trend of improved performance with hearing aids in subjects with no change in the Mini Mental.
Aged; Hearing loss; Hearing Aids; Quality of Life; Cognition
