title: Prediction of the use of conventional hearing aids in Korean adults with unilateral hearing impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the use of a hearing aid at six months post-fitting and to evaluate the predictors of its ongoing use in Korean adults with unilateral hearing impairment (HI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study at a secondary referral hospital over a 15-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study analysed 119 adults with unilateral HI who had been recommended for hearing amplification (55 men and 64 women, mean age, 58.0 ± 11.7 years). Six months after the fitting, all of the participants were surveyed regarding subsequent decisions and actions about obtaining hearing aids.
  
  
  RESULTS
  General uptake rate for a hearing aid was 68.1% (58.0% of participants surveyed were successful users, and 10.1% were intermittent users). The most significant parameter associated with hearing-aid use was social and/or work activities (R(2) = 0.457), and the significant predictors for successful hearing-aid use were social and/or work activities and method of signal processing (discriminatory power = 56.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Six months post-fitting, 68.1% of Korean adults with unilateral HI who had agreed to try a hearing aid continued to use it regularly. The predictors for hearing-aid use six months post-fitting included social and/or work activities and digital signal processing.
authors: * Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea , Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi-do , Korea.
authors: Dong-Hee
authors: DH
authors: Lee
authors: Heil
authors: H
authors: Noh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D046088:Hearing Loss, Unilateral / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014937:Work / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Hearing aids; hearing disorders; unilateral hearing loss