Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Two Strategies for Adaptation of Hearing Aids in Elderly through Perceived Impact on Quality of Life

Introduction: The increase of the elderly population and the incidence of presbycusis makes necessary the development of new methods of hearing aid, aiming its better functioning.

Objective: To compare the efficiency between both strategies of hearing aid adaptation in elderly and the impact of its use in their quality of life.

Methods: The sample was composed of 10 to 20 elders who were new users of hearing aid. They were previously selected through the Mini Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM) and, later, were divided into two groups (G1 and G2). Thereafter, they received the hearing aid, and both groups had received instructions from the speech-language therapist with support of the manufacturer's instruction manual. They also answered the quiz Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) translated to Portuguese. Only G2 received the instruction Guide for new elder users of the hearing aid - DVD BERLIM (Berlim, 2013). After a month, the quiz APHAB was taken again, by both groups, along with the quiz on quality of life World Health Organization Quality of Life - OLD (WHOQOL-OLD Group, 2005).

Results: Data were analyzed and compared quantitatively at data collection phase. It was expected that G2 show better quantitative results when compared with G1 either to adaptation or to quality of life.

Conclusion: The more strategies of adaptation are used with the new elderly users of hearing aid, the better will be their hearing development improving their quality of life.

Keywords: elderly; hearing aid; adaptation; quality of life.