at Waits Hearing

Center

Hearing

aids are remarkable devices. These small electronic

devices can make the difference between hearing and not

hearing.

Hearing

aids can allow a person to continue working, make

communication with family and friends easier, or help a

child learn how to speak.

Just how

helpful are hearing aids? A study of nearly 200 adults

found that hearing aids are "very successful

treatments for reversing the social, emotional and

communication dysfunction caused by hearing

impairments."

Most of the

people involved in the study had mild or moderate hearing

loss, and none had ever used hearing aids. Nearly all the

individuals reported that their hearing loss was causing

problems in their daily lives.

The

researchers evaluated the effects of hearing loss on each

person's quality of life. They used four questionnaires,

such as the Self Evaluation of Life Function and the

Hearing Handicap Inventory.

The

questionnaires asked about the participants' daily

activities, their ability to hear in different settings

and their feelings and attitudes about their hearing

problems. The investigators found that "marked

social, emotional and communication difficulties are

caused by hearing loss... even in cases of [only] mild to

moderate loss."

Half of the

individuals were then fitted with hearing aids. Six weeks

later, questionnaires were again used to study the

effects of hearing loss on each person's daily life.

The

questionnaire results obtained after individuals used

hearing aids for six weeks indicated "large quality

of life improvements in the areas of communication and

social function" in those individuals who received

hearing aids, but not in those individuals who did not

receive hearing aids. Everyone in the study was

subsequently fitted with hearing aids.

Based on

the results of this study, the researchers concluded that

"hearing aids represent a relatively inexpensive

therapy for the amount of benefit gained."

The finding

that hearing aids provided considerable help are, of

course, no surprise to us. We also know that the problems

caused by hearing loss can be frustrating, even when

hearing aids are providing important benefits. Everyone

we know would like their hearing aids to help even more,

but it's also important to remember just how much hearing

aids actually do help.

There is a

significant relationship between hearing loss and

physical and psychosocial impairment. LaForge, et al.

studied 1,408 elderly adults and found that persons with

visual or auditory impairment were more than three times

likely to have a "decline in functional health"

than were unimpaired individuals, including a higher

incidence of heart disease, hypertension and

osteoarthritis.

The data

from these and other studies indicate that, because of

their hearing loss, individuals may experience increased

feelings of isolation, depression, loneliness, anger and

frustration. Researchers have speculated that the

increased incidence of health dysfunction may be a result

of these feelings of isolation, depression and

frustration.

A paper

published recently in The Hearing Journal reported

findings of an investigation into the effects of hearing

aid use on functional health status. Results of an

earlier study by Mulrow (1990) have already demonstrated

that "hearing aids are very successful treatments

for reversing the social, emotional and communication

dysfunction caused by hearing impairment." Can

hearing aid use also improve functional health status?

Crandell

(1998) concluded, "The use of hearing aids can

reduce functional health difficulties in elderly

listeners with sensorineural hearing loss." He

compared this effect to previous findings that

individuals with positive attitudes about their illness

tend to have lower morbidity and mortality rates and

speculated that the improvements in health status may be

because of the enhancement in communicative function.

That is, "Improved communicative function resulted

in reduced psychosocial deficits, which, in turn, reduced

the degree of functional impairment."

In other

words, the improved communication that occurred as a

result of using hearing aids may have improved the

individual's perception of health impairment rather than

his or her actual physical status. Research is now

underway that is examining physical change in health

status as a function of hearing aid use.

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