Hearing disability assessment in evaluating hearing aid benefit.
The aim was to study the applicability of an eight-item questionnaire in evaluating the benefit derived from hearing-aid use. Since 1977, 3402 hard-of-hearing patients have been fitted with a hearing aid for the first time and followed up for 3 months in the Helsinki University Central Hospital. The questionnaire included eight situation-specific items in hearing: speech face-to-face, speech in a small and large group, loud speech, in telephone and radio/TV, doorbell, telephone signal. The scoring ranged from 0 to 16. After a 3 months' use of amplification, the questionnaire was completed again. The median (interquartile range) and arithmetic mean (standard deviation) of the prefitting scores were 5.0 (4.0-6.0) and 5.3 (2.33). The postfitting scores were 1.0 (0.0-2.0) and 1.1 (1.17), respectively. The difference was highly significant. An eight-item questionnaire in the evaluation of hearing problems provided a reliable numerical score of disability. Follow-up is important to secure satisfactory results in rehabilitation, especially in old age.
Marttila
T I
TI
Department of Audiology, Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
Jauhiainen
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T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013067:Speech Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires