Qualitative reports of hearing aid benefit

TLDR

A simple open‑ended questionnaire was administered to elderly patients three months after discharge from a rehabilitation programme to capture perceived benefits and shortcomings of their hearing aid fitting. Responses showed that two‑thirds reported reduced disability and one‑third reported reduced handicap, with most benefits noted for television, general and one‑to‑one conversation, and church listening, while drawbacks were mainly acoustic and practical; the authors conclude the method has useful potential for post‑rehabilitation assessment and audit.

Abstract

A simple open-ended questionnaire asking about the benefits and shortcomings of their hearing aid fitting was administered to a series of elderly patients over three months after discharge from a rehabilitation programme. Two-thirds of their benefit responses indicated a reduction in disability and one-third a reduction in handicap. The commonest benefits were with the television, general and one to one conversation and hearing in church and chapel. Main drawbacks were acoustical and practical with few reporting psychological or cosmetic problems. It is concluded that this approach has useful potential in the assessment of hearing impaired patients following rehabilitation and could form a part of the audit process.