Study of an individualized protocol on hearing AIDS adaptation in the elderly

• Grant number: 15/22817-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2016 - August 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Wanderleia Quinhoneiro Blasca
• Grantee: Wanderleia Quinhoneiro Blasca
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Lilian Cassia Bornia Jacob ; Maria Fernanda Capoani Garcia Mondelli ; Regina Tangerino de Souza Jacob

Abstract

Worldwide, the increase in the number of the elderly is already a reality. In Brazil, this figure is becoming increasingly significant. In the Brazilian age pyramid, this gradual change is directing a different behavior in several areas and, therefore, new public policies for the elderly care are changing the national scene.With the emergence of new technologies in the area of Audiology, researchers have emphasized the importance of individualization in the approach of the hearing impaired needs.Specifically analyzing the audiological issues, starting with the diagnosis process for the detection of hearing loss, there is a concern in meeting those individual needs to make communication more effective, carrying out directed evaluations prior to the hearing aid (HA) fitting, so that all the elements necessary to a satisfactory adaptation are guaranteed.In spite of the numerous advances and the possibility of a greater scope of prescriptive methods, the studies that guide the individualized process of HA fitting in the hearing-impaired elderly individual are few. In this context, a more detailed study about the comparative aspects of the targets' values prescribed by the methods is necessary, correlating with the verification results, with the speech intelligibility index, and mainly with the individual characteristics of the elderly emphasized by the expectation and satisfaction with the use of amplification. Thus, the objective of this project is to establish a HA fitting protocol for the hearing impaired elderly individual considering the individual characteristics. This proposal will be carried out through the comparative analysis of the targets' values prescribed by methods DSL m [i/o] v5.0 and NAL NL2 in correlation with the analysis of the speech intelligibility index (SII) and speech perception in silence and noise and, afterwards, through the evaluation of the results.This study pursues a further guidance in working with the elderly population, in consonance with the patient-centered model considering individual needs, including listening expectations, instead of concentrating only on hearing thresholds and electroacoustic characteristics of electronic devices. A more complete perspective of the understanding of the use of techniques and technologies to favor the human side and increase efficiency. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARÍLIA CANCIAN BERTOZZO; WANDERLÉIA QUINHONEIRO BLASCA. Análise comparativa dos métodos prescritivos NAL-NL2 e DSL v5.0a na adaptação do AASI em idosos. CoDAS, v. 31, n. 4, 2019-08-15. (15/22817-4)