Factores sociodemográficos, clínicos, audiológicos, y audioprotésicos, relacionados con la calidad de vida de los pacientes adultos usuarios de prótesis auditivas

Resumo

Introduction. The purpose of a prosthetic adaptation is not only to improve the understanding of language and the recognition of sounds, but also to improve the quality of life of the patient. Objectives. To measure the quality of life of patients with hearing aids, and to investigate which sociodemographic, clinical, audiological and audioprosthetic variables affect it. Material and methods. Multicenter cross-sectional study conducted in the Community of Madrid (Spain), with a sample of 54 patients. The Hearing Rehabilitation Effectiveness Scale (EAR), and a self prepared questionnaire for collection of sociodemographic, clinical, audiological and audioprosthetic data were used. Results. The general results of the research indicate that the sociodemographic, clinical, audiological and hearing aid variables are associated with items on the EAR scale (p<0.05). Conclusions. The quality of life of patients with hearing aids is generally good; being good from an audiological point of view, and very good from an audioprosthetic point of view. The most determining variables in relation to the quality of life of patients are the audioprosthetic and sociodemographic variables. The sociodemographic variables that have the greatest impact are: age, sex, and work activity. Visual pathologies associated with hearing loss and the concurrence of several hearing pathologies, and/or hearing surgical interventions worsen quality of life. Patients with physical disabilities have a good quality of life. Speech audiometry values are related to quality of life. High-end or premium hearing aids, modern or not very old, from manufacturer nº1, in patients with little previous experience, are the ones that provide the best quality of life for the patient. On the contrary, self-prescription of the hearing aid by the patient sensibly worsens her quality of life.