Hearing aid outpatient clinic that incorporates utsunomiya method auditory rehabilitation

Abstract

The main features of the Utsunomiya method auditory rehabilitation are “full―time hearing aid use from day 1 of rehabilitation with frequent examinations and adjustments for 3 months,” and “the presence of a speech therapist specialized in audiology in charge of hearing aid outpatients.” We established a hearing aid outpatient clinic adopting this method and examined the results over a period of 3 years. Data of a total of 174 subjects who underwent hearing rehabilitation at the hearing aid outpatient clinic of Keiyu Hospital from April 2016 to March 2019 were examined. We investigated the rehabilitation―dropout rate, hearing―aid purchase rate, and accuracy rate of hearing aid fitting by the sound field test and speech intelligibility test. The results revealed a rehabilitation―dropout rate of 2.9%, hearing aid purchase rate of 94.8%, and accuracy rate of hearing aid fitting by the sound field test of 97.6%, and by the speech intelligibility test of 94.7%. For patients with hearing loss, we found that this method was particularly useful for patients who had difficulties in their daily living due to hearing loss and showed a willingness to improve their hearing.