Opportunistic hearing screening in elderly inpatients:

SAGE Open Medicine

KrishanRamdoo¹ 

关键词: Elderly;    hearing loss;    deafness;    screening;    hearing aids;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2050312114528171

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

Objective:To determine the prevalence of occult hearing loss in elderly inpatients, to evaluate feasibility of opportunistic hearing screening and to determine subsequent provision of hearing aids.Materials and methods:Subjects (>65 years) were recruited from five elderly care wards. Hearing loss was detected by a ward-based hearing screen comprising patient-reported assessment of hearing disability and a whisper test. Subjects failing the whisper test or reporting hearing difficulties were offered formal audiological assessment.Results:Screening was performed on 51 patients aged between 70 and 95 years. Of the patients, 21 (41%) reported hearing loss and 16 (31%) failed the whisper test. A total of 37 patients (73%) were referred for audiological assessment with 17 (33%) found to have aidable hearing loss and 11 were fitted with hearing aids (22%).Discussion:This study highlights the high prevalence of occult hearing loss in elderly inpatients. Easy two-step screening can accurately identify patients wit...

【 授权许可】

CC BY