PP1004 - Difficulty in Adapting to Hearing Aids in the Elderly Predicted by Dichotic Digits and Frequency Patterns Results: A Preliminary Study

Rationale: The aging brain needs more time to process information, make decisions, make judgments, assimilate complex information and to switch from one task to another and also impacts the ability to multi-task. Studies report that only 10-20% of elderly people with significant hearing loss use hearing aids. Among the elderly who use hearing aids, frequent complaints are difficulty in understanding in the presence of background noise and understanding conversation in a group, which often leads to dissatisfaction with the use of hearing aids. Difficulty in understanding speech is known to result from changes in peripheral auditory pathways, structural or functional changes in central auditory pathways and a general cognitive deficit resulting from processing dysfunction in all sensory modalities. The literature corroborates the presence of change in central auditory processing in elderly people with or without peripheral impairment, but evidence of a possible direct relationship between difficulty in adapting to hearing aids and changes in central auditory processing is still scarce. The objective of this study is to investigate whether performance in the behavioral assessment of the CAP can predict benefit and satisfaction from sound amplification

Design: The sample consisted of 13 individuals aged between 66 and 87 years of age, 4 females and 9 males. The Dichotic Digits test (DDT) and the Frequency Patterns test (FPT) were applied to individuals referred for Individual Sound Amplification Device (ISAD). Three questions from the International Questionnaire-ISAD were asked after at least 2 months of ISAD use, comparing satisfaction with quality of hearing prior to and after starting use. The devices were recommended and fitted by the same audiologist.

Results: Of the 15 possible points on the satisfaction questionnaire, the lowest score was 6 and the highest 14. Of the 7 individuals who scored up to 9 points on the satisfaction questionnaire, 5 showed deficits in the DDT and FPT and 2 showed alteration only in the DD test, with a difference between the left and right ear of over 40%. Of the 6 individuals who scored 10 points or more, 4 had a naming FPT index greater than or equal to 72% and a difference between left and right ear in the DD of less than or equal to 15%, one had a naming FPT index greater than 72% and a difference between left and right ear in the DD of 34.95%, and the last one presented naming FP index of 35%.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that these chosen Central Auditory Processing tests can predict, at least in part, difficulty in adapting to hearing aids in the elderly and therefore they should be included as part of evaluation test batteries prior to the choice of ISAD.