Self-Assessment of Hearing and Purchase of Hearing AIDS by Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults

Abstract

Introduction Presbycusis is a consequence of aging. Prescription of hearing aids isart of the treatment, although therevalence of use by elderlyeople is still small. Objective To verify whether or not self-assessment of hearing is aredictor forurchase of hearing aids. Methods Quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, and observational study. Participants were subjects who sought arivate hearing center for selection of hearing aids. During the diagnostic interview, subjects answered the following question: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 the best, how would you rate your overall hearing ability? After that, subjects underwent audiometry, selected a hearing aid,erformed a home trial, and decided whether or not tourchase the hearing aid. The variables were associated and analyzed statistically. Results The sample was comprised of 32 subjects, both men and women, with a higher number of women. Mean age was 71.41 ± 12.14 years. Self-assessment of hearing ranged from 2 to 9oints. Overall, 71.9% of the subjectsurchased hearing aids. There was no association between scores in the self-assessment and theurchase of hearing aids (p = 0.263). Among those who scored between 2 and 5oints, 64.7%urchased the device; between 6 and 7oints, 76.09%urchased the device; and between 8 and 9oints, 50%urchased the device, respectively. Conclusion There is evidence that low self-assessment scores lead to theurchase of hearing aids, although no significant association was observed in the sample.