Purpose
to verify the effectiveness of the use of hearing aids dispensed by SUS in a high complexity service in the city of São Paulo and evaluate their impact on adults and elderly quality of life.
Methods
this research has been approved by the Ethics and Research committee. We evaluated 30 adults and 30 older adults with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss whose level is from mild to moderately severe, percentage of speech recognition minimum of 52%, who received hearing aids for more than one year and had no other commitments.
Were applied
International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) and Outcomex Study 36 – Item Short Form Health Survey – SF 36.
Results
63,33 % of the elderly and 73,34 % of adults showed 25 or more IOI-HA score . About the 60 patients, 18% did not use hearing aids, 3.3% used between 1 and 4 hours per day, 25.% used between 4 and 8 hours and 53% used more than 8 hours. The elderly who use hearing aids presented better scores on social aspects and mental health.
Conclusion
60% of adults and 46% of elderly use hearing aids and present satisfactory quality of life.
Hearing Aids; Quality of Life; Unified Health System
