title: Aural rehabilitation in the elderly: supply of hearing aids related to measured need and self-assessed hearing problems.
abstract: Three age cohorts of elderly persons in Göteborg (70, 75 and 88 years of age) were studied regarding hearing aid (HA) rehabilitation, on the one hand, and measured and self-assessed hearing, on the other. The participants, 615 in number, were representative of their ages and were selected from a geriatric population study. At age 70, 12% of the participants had been equipped with HAs. At age 75, the corresponding figure was 14% and at age 88, 32%. The correlations between self-assessed and audiometrically measured hearing were reasonably high (r = 0.5-0.7). According to the result for the self-assessed measure, we estimate that elderly persons with pure-tone averages (PTAs) at 30 dB HL (0.5-4 kHz, better ear) are in need of aural rehabilitation. Nevertheless, few subjects with PTAs between 30 and 49 dB HL have been equipped with HAs. At age 88, almost 20% of those with pronounced problems had no HA. Very few participants with no documented hearing problems for aural rehabilitation had been equipped with HAs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology, University of Göteborg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden. postmaster@geriatrik.gu.se
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rosenhall
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000379:methods; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires