Efficacy of audiologic rehabilitation for older adults.

TLDR

The study compared analytic auditory training and active listening training in 78 older adults with hearing loss, using speech recognition, hearing handicap perception, and psychosocial function as outcome measures. Active listening training improved auditory‑visual speech recognition in noise and certain psychosocial outcomes, whereas analytic training alone showed no benefit.

Abstract

Two intervention procedures for the rehabilitation of elderly adults with hearing impairment were evaluated: analytic auditory training and active listening training. Seventy-eight older adults with hearing loss served as subjects. Twenty-six subjects received no training, 26 received analytic training, and 26 received active listening training. The effectiveness of the audiologic rehabilitation programs was determined via measures of speech recognition, hearing handicap perception, and psychosocial function. Active listening was found to be an effective treatment for helping individuals with hearing impairment improve their auditory-visual recognition of speech in noise and improve certain aspects of their psychosocial functioning. Support for analytic speech recognition drills alone was not demonstrated.