1. Hearing Aid Use and Efficiency in the Turkish Geriatric Population.
- Author
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Eyupler, T., Polat, Z., Çakır, M. S., and Ataş, A.
- Subjects
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DEAFNESS , *HEARING aids , *CONFERENCES & conventions , *OLD age - Abstract
Introduction: Hearing loss is a major public health problem in the world. In general, 10% of the population has a hearing loss that is high enough to disrupt communication. This rate rises to 40% in the population over 65 years of age. Presbiacusia is the major cause of hearing loss in individuals over 65 years of age. Presbycusis is a sensorineural hearing loss and the hearing aid is very important in the rehabilitation of patients with sensorineural hearing loss. This study aims to determine the rate of hearing aid use and efficiency in the geriatric population of Turkey. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study. Therefore, hearing aid information was obtained from audiogram data if it exists. PTA (between 500-4000 Hz), SDS, SRT values and hearing aid usage data were gathered from 3127 patients who applied to the hospital and complied to the inclusion criteria. In addition, the SRT values and SDS percentages of 332 individuals using hearing aids in this patient group were included in the study. The participants were divided into 6 groups (59--65, 65--70, 70--75, 75--80, 80--85, and 85+) according to their age. Changes in the SRT and SDS values of these groups after using hearing aids were statistically determined. Results: For all age groups, the number of people in need of hearing aids and the number of people using hearing aids were determined. On average, 71.22% of all individuals included in the study needed hearing aids, however only 10.6% used hearing aids. A statistical significance was observed between SRT values before hearing aid use and SRT values after hearing aid use for each group. Similarly, a statistically significant difference was observed between the percentages of SDS before and after the use of hearing aids for each group (p<0.01). However, the improvement in SRT and SDS values were not found as expected. The mean SRT value was found as 68 dB without hearing aid and 45.75 with hearing aid for the sixth group. When SDS values with and without hearing aids were compared for all age groups, SDS values did not exceed 76% in any group. Conclusions: Hearing aid usage rates of the same age groups are similar to reported values in the literature. However, this rate is quite low compared to the need for hearing aids in the geriatric population. After the use of the hearing aid, SRT levels decreased and SDS percentages increased. However, the best SRT value was found as 38.55 dB which is higher than normal values. Failure to use hearing aids in patients who need to wear hearing aids may cause hearing loss to progress and impair daily communication. Therefore, hearing aid awareness and finding the suitable hearing aid are important in the rehabilitation of the geriatric population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022