Social evaluation about hearing aids

Sound is a condition that humans are exposed to in nature. Sound is not only a physical parameter, but also an important factor affecting people's mental and cognitive performance. For this reason, many researchers and scientists have been working to explore this aspect of sound in recent years. In this study, with the online test method, it was tried to determine the misconceptions about hearing loss and hearing aids in the society. The physiological, psychological, and social effects of hearing aids on people were mentioned. It was aimed to show the benefits of the correct use of hearing aids to people with hearing loss and to contribute to the change of social perception in society. The effects of thoughts about hearing aids and hearing loss on people are evaluated and the relationship between the wrong thoughts in the society and the people who refuse to use hearing aids instead of getting benefit were discussed. Objective: According to the report prepared by the World Health Organisation, more than 360 million people suffer from hearing loss. For people in Turkey, this number is known to be approximately 2.2 million. Hearing loss increases with age, noise exposure, metabolic diseases and the use of drugs that can damage the inner ear. One out of every 3 people over the age of 65 feels hearing loss and has difficulty in distinguishing sounds. Hearing aids are widely used treatment method for the treatment of people with hearing loss. Due to some factors that cause people to view hearing aids negatively, many people with hearing loss do not accept to use hearing aids. With our study, we contributed to increase the rate of hearing aid use, which will positively affect the social life of people, by determining the false facts about hearing aids in the society. Materials and Method: In our study, a questionnaire form was created via Google Forms to collect data. The questions were answered online through the survey system. The condition for participation for the study is to be over 18 years of age. The questionnaire was answered by 334 women and 238 men, a total of 572 participants. SPSS 25.0 package programme was used for data analysis. Comparison of hearing aids information questions according to demographic data was analysed with Chi-square test. During the reliability analysis of the 6-item scale prepared to measure the perception of hearing aids, Cronbach's Alpha value was calculated as (0.814), which indicates that it is at the "high reliability" level. The validity analysis of the scale was carried out with "Explanatory Factor Analysis". In all statistical tests, the level of significance was taken as (α=0,05). Findings: There were 41.60% women and 58.4% men participants in our study. The distribution of the educational status of the participants was 5% for primary school, 2.80% for secondary school, 14.20% for high school group and the university group was represented with the highest rate of 77.40%. When the accuracy rate of the answers given in the questions asked to the participants about hearing aids was analysed according to the level of education, the rate of giving correct answers to the questions was higher in university graduates, while the rate of giving incorrect answers increased as the level of education decreased. Conclusion: As a result of the evaluation, it was determined that social awareness about hearing aids is not related to the level of education. It was determined that having correct information about hearing aids is not directly proportional to the increase in the level of education. Therefore, giving correct information about hearing aids will be able to eliminate misconceptions.