2019 Volume 62 Issue 3 Pages 196-204
[Objective] To report the results of trial use of hearing-aids (HAs) in elderly individuals attending an adult day-care center. [Participants] The subjects were 38 elderly individuals with a hearing loss of 35dB HL or over in the better ear (male 17, female 21; 46.5 ± 9.2dB; 83.7 ± 6.7 years old; MMSE 24.6 ± 6.0; FIM 47-125). Seven of the subjects were already wearing their own HAs (pre-use group).
[Methods] Trial use of a Bhind-the-Ear hearing aid in one ear was proposed to 31 participants. The trial period was 3 months.
[Results] Nine out of the 31 subjects accepted the proposal (acceptance group), seven continued wearing their HAs, and five purchased their own HAs. The pre-use group (n=7) had more severe hearing loss as compared to the other groups, however, there was no significant difference between the acceptance (n=9) and non-acceptance (n=22) groups. The former group was more strongly aware of difficulty under bad conditions than the latter. The effect of HAs was evident not only in the perception of speech sounds, but also in that of environmental sounds or supra-segmental elements of speech. Cases of aphasia with limited language ability (n=3) showed improved emotional stability and daily communication.
[Conclusion] The findings of this study showed the importance of hearing screening and HA intervention for the elderly attending adult-day-care centers. Factors related to non-acceptance of HAs need to be clarified.
