Abstract:Objective To explore the effect of hearing aid intervention on hearing impaired patients who have been living in Tibet plateau for more than 40 years. Methods Forty-nine hearing aid wearers (63 ears) were selected for analysis of hearing condition, hearing threshold, speech after the hearing aid and subjective perception of the International Questionnaire on Hearing Aid Effects, and the compensation effect of hearing aids evaluated comprehensively. Results Among 63 ears, there were 34 ears moderate hearing loss, 25 ears severe hearing loss and 4 ears extremely severe hearing loss. Thirty-five cases of them were monaural, and the average score of the questionnaire was 20.34±4.39 points; 14 cases of them were binaural, the average score of the questionnaire 27.07±4.16 points; The score of binaural is higher than that of monaural.There was a positive correlation between the speech resolution of hearing aid and the subjective evaluation of the questionnaire (r=0.528, P<0.01). The hearing aid threshold showed that most ears did not get the best hearing compensation. However, the comparison of hearing before and after hearing aid intervention was statistically significant (P<0.05), and high-frequency compensation was more obvious. The speech audiometry after hearing aid showed that the maximum speech resolution after hearing aid was higher than that before hearing aid (P<0.05). Conclusions The objective hearing parameters of hearing aids used by hearing impaired people in plateau areas are relatively consistent with the subjective evaluation. The hearing aid effect is more significant and the binaural test is more advantageous than the monaural test. The overall hearing aid effect is positive.
