Quality of life and social determinants in individual hearing AIDS users

Abstract

Purpose: To verify the association between quality of life, socioenvironmental aspects and general health status of users of an Auditory Health Care Service. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study with simple random sample. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 114 adults and elderly, aged 19-92, Individual Hearing Aids (IHA) users in an auditory health service. Participants answered questions regarding characterization, sociodemographic data and quality of life. To study the aspects of care, a search was carried out in the medical records. Mann Whitney, Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were performed for association. The analyses were performed in the STATA software considering a 5% significance level. For the multivariate analysis, the full model was started with all significant variables at 20%. A logistic regression model was used to repeat the variables with p < 5%. Results: The majority of the participants was female, aged over 60 years and had their first consultation with the speech-language therapist. As for WHOQOL-bref, more than half of the sample reported good quality of life and health satisfaction. Regarding the complaints associated with the majority of those who did not present dizziness, ear fullness and depression reported good quality of life. It was observed an association with statistical significance between health satisfaction, higher mean age and lower schooling. In the multivariate analysis, the effective use of hearing aids and no history of dizziness were associated with good quality of life. For the health variable it was found that not having dizziness increased the chances of being satisfied with health while each year the more schooling the chance to be satisfied reduced. Conclusion: The use of IHA is related to a good perception of the quality of life and health status of individuals with hearing loss.