Impact of Hearing Loss Severity on Hearing Aid Benefit Among Adult Users.

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss (HL) among older adults is a major global health concern. Hearing aids (HAs) offer an effective solution to manage HL and enhance the quality of life. However, the adoption and the consistent use of HAs remain low, making non-use a significant barrier to successful audiological rehabilitation. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit of HAs among patients with different degrees of HL and to determine the profiles of patients who have the least benefit from HAs.

Methods: the HA benefits were assessed by using the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) questionnaire. Participants were assigned to the study groups based on the pure-tone audiometry. This paper presents the results obtained by using HAs in various listening environments among 167 patients.

Results: The majority of individuals benefited from HAs in a noisy environment while a reverberant environment provided the lowest benefit. It was observed that the degree of HL had a statistically significant impact on the benefits of HAs in terms of the communication ease, the reverberation, the background noise, and the global score. A moderately positive correlation was observed between the unaided APHAB and the HL degree. The subjects' APHAB scores ranged from the 50th to the 65th percentile. Additionally, women had a significantly better improvement than men.

Conclusions: HAs improved communication in everyday life situations among 91.6% of HA users. The degree of HL influences APHAB scores. Patients with a severe degree of HL achieved the greatest APHAB scores while male patients with mild HL received the lowest benefits of HAs. Both HL and the age, gender, and HA type are factors that also play important roles. The APHAB questionnaire is a reliable screening test for patients with hearing difficulties.