Comparison of quality of life the geriatric population with presbycusis who either use or not use hearing aid

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life who use a hearing device at least six months and don't use any hearing device the people with presbycusis in the geriatric population. Materials and Methods: The World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Older Adults Module was administrated to 113 the volunteers aged 65 and over who had bilateral, middle and high-grade age-related sensorineural hearing loss. Additionally, the Hearing Handicap Inventory fort he Elderly (HHIE) and The Turkish version of the International Outcome Iventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA-TR) were carried out to the elderly and the individuals who had been using a hearing device for at least six months, respectively. Results: The average age of 71 men and 42 women who joined the study was 77.7. 79 participants and 34 participants among them have got moderate and moderate-to-severe hearing loss, respectively. there were 64 volunteers who don't use any device and 49 volunteers who use a hearing device. The quality of life of the patients who use a device was found to be high (p <0.001) in the WHOQOL-OLD scale. The quality of life of the volunteer with higher hearing impairments was observed lower (p<0,001). In IQI-HA-TR and WHOQOL-OLD analysis, Hearing Device satisfaction and quality of life were found to be related. Conclusions: The quality of life of the individuals using Hearing Device was significantly higher than those who did not. The quality of life of individuals with a high level of hearing impairment was found lower. Speech recognition scores values were found to be higher than those who did not use the Hearing Instrument. The rate of use of Hearing Device was higher in individuals with moderate to severe hearing loss. There was a direct correlation with the duration of use of Hearing Device and satisfaction. It can be said that the daily use of the hearing aid is important for the adaptation and success of the hearing aid. In order to prevent social isolation caused by presbiasis, the geriatric population should be supplemented with routine audiological investigations, quality of life inventories, and auditory rehabilitation should be started if necessary. Key words: presbycusis, geriatrics, hearing loss, hearing aid, quality of life