Qualidade de vida do idoso submetido à adaptação do aparelho de amplificação sonora individual (AASI)

Abstract

Introduction: Hearing loss in the elderly is called Presbycusis and is due to the physiological process of aging. It occurs individually and can be aggravated by environmental and external factors such as exposure to noise, ototoxic drugs and age associated diseases. Limitations resulting from hearing loss can be minimized with the use of the individual hearing aid (HA), thus avoiding social isolation, depressive conditions, stress and frustration. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare the quality of life of a group of elderly people before and after adapting the hearing aid and to assess the level of user satisfaction with the use of the device in daily life. Methods: This is a prospective, observational, longitudinal study with a quantitative approach, whose sample included 75 elderly people with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, with no history of hearing aid use and who did not have dementia. The data collection instruments used were the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-Old (WHOQOL-OLD) and the Satisfaction Amplification in Daily Life (SADL). The data were analyzed with the aid of the statistical package SPSS (26.0). The Shapiro- Wilk test was used to assess the normal distribution of the studied variables and the Wilcoxon test was used to compare the evolution of quality of life in the two different moments. The level of significance adopted was 5% (p <0.05). Results: The use of hearing aids resulted in a significant improvement in quality of life for the studied group, that is, the average of the general score before the adaptation of the hearing aid was 58.97 (± 9.22) compared to 68.85 (± 7.70) after the hearing aid adaptation (p <0.001). The facets that most evolved with the adaptation of the hearing aid were Sensory Skills (FS), 28,00 (± 17,11) before and 67,50 (±10,87) after and Social Participation (PSO), 54,75 (± 18,17) before and67,33 (± 11,38) after. Significant improvements were not observed for the Death and Dying (MEM) and Intimacy (INT) facets. The level of overall user satisfaction with the use of hearing aids was verified and all subscales of the SADL showed favorable results (5.61), with the Positive Effects subscale having the most significant (6,39). Conclusion: Based on the results obtained, it is possible to conclude that the systematic use of hearing aids favored the quality of life of the elderly. The most significant favorable results were observed in relation to interaction in the social and family spheres and to the autonomy and independence to perform daily tasks. Hearing-impaired elderly people deserve special attention because they are more vulnerable to situations of social isolation and loss of autonomy and the proper use of hearing aids can significantly benefit this group of the population