Demands on hearing aid features—special signal processing for elderly users?

Do Experienced Hearing Aid Users Know How to Use Their Hearing Aids Correctly?

Purpose

To assess experienced hearing aid users' ability to use their hearing aids correctly.

Method

In this study, we developed the Practical Hearing Aid Skills Test (PHAST) to objectively test a hearing aid user’s ability to manipulate his or her hearing aids. The PHAST requires hearing aid users to perform 8 hearing aid care and use tasks that are basic skills typically taught to new hearing aid users at the time of their hearing aid fitting. The PHAST was administered to a group of 50 experienced hearing aid users. In addition, participants were administered questionnaires about hearing aid satisfaction (i.e., Satisfaction With Amplification in Daily Life; R. M. Cox & G. C. Alexander, 1999), benefit (i.e., Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit; R. M. Cox & G. C. Alexander, 1995), and use.

Results

Participants' performance on the PHAST ranged from 48% to 100%, and the scores were normally distributed around the mean (78.56%). No significant relationship was observed between the PHAST and any of the other tests administered in this study. The only variable significantly associated with participants' performance on the PHAST was age.

Conclusions

Results from this study suggest that experienced hearing aid users range from having an excellent understanding of how to use their hearing aids to a poor understanding. The variability in performance among experienced hearing aid users highlights the importance of directly assessing a client’s ability to use his or her hearing aids.

A health policy for hearing impairment in older Australians: what should it include?

Background

As in all western countries, Australia's older population experiences high levels of hearing impairment coupled with relatively low levels of hearing device usage. Poor hearing diminishes the quality of life of affected individuals and their families. This paper discusses how to improve Australian hearing health policies in order to better combat this impairment amongst older Australians.

Method

We searched the databases Medline, Meditext and Web of Science to find articles that discussed strategies and innovations to assist the hearing health of older people, and related this material to observations made during the Blue Mountains Hearing Study in NSW between 1997 and 2003.

Results and Discussion

The literature search identified five areas for inclusion in a comprehensive hearing health policy in Australia. These are: early intervention; addressing of hearing aid expense; the use of assisted listening devices; hearing rehabilitation, and; screening and education. Further research in Australia is critical if we are to develop a strong approach to the increasing prevalence of age-related hearing loss.

Conclusion

Australia needs to act now to address hearing impairment as it is a major cause of disability in those aged 55 and over. Federal and State governments should collaborate to construct a comprehensive hearing health policy that tackles poor levels of hearing health through early intervention, addressing hearing aid expense, encouraging the use of assisted listening devices, rehabilitation, screening and education. A good start would be to declare age related hearing impairment as a National Health Priority Area.

[Factors influencing rehabilitation of sensorineural hearing loss with hearing aids]

BACKGROUND

A large proportion of older as well as younger patients do not use their hearing aids. Of the younger hearing impaired population, this occurs in the majority of those who do not benefit sufficiently from their hearing aids and, consequently, they face difficulties in their working and social life.

SCIENTIFIC QUESTION

Our aim was to evaluate whether a classical hearing aid adjustment is of sufficient predictive value to determine whether adequate rehabilitation in everyday and professional life will occur.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A questionnaire was returned by 197 adult hearing impaired patients. Only 108 were using their hearing aids all the time; 57 rarely and 32 never. The main reason for this low rehabilitation rate proved to be inadequate amplification. At the workplace, insufficient speech discrimination came into play. Another important factor was dysacusis induced by specific noise signals. There was an intolerable acoustic feedback in 40% which could not be sufficiently alleviated. Taking these results into account, only about a third of patients were sufficiently rehabilitated.

CONCLUSIONS

Proof of effectiveness in a typical audiological testing situation is an important but not a fully reliable predictor for effectiveness in everyday life. Even when hearing aids are shown to be effective with such testing, their application in particular everyday or work situations may be insufficient of even impossible.