Degree of satisfaction of patients fitted with hearing aids at a high complexity service.

UNLABELLED Some individuals with hearing loss choose to be fitted with hearing aids. Compliance is significantly affected by how satisfied patients are with their hearing aids. Patient satisfaction can be assessed through questionnaires and scales. OBJECTIVE To assess the degree of satisfaction of patients fitted with hearing aids. METHOD Scale "Satisfaction With Amplification in Daily Life" (SADL) was applied to 180 patients fitted with hearing aids; results were categorized based on the mean values observed for global satisfaction scores and scores attained on each subscale. Patients were interviewed for additional information. RESULTS Mean global score was 5.6; 48.9% of the subjects were very satisfied, 47.2% were satisfied, and 3.9% were dissatisfied. The mean score on subscale Positive Effects was 5.6; the mean score for Service and Cost was 6.2; for Negative Factors the mean score was 4.9; and the mean score on subscale Personal Image was 5.8. Of the patients fitted with in-the-ear hearing aids, 83.3% were very satisfied. Fifteen percent of the individuals were dissatisfied with their Personal Image. Sensorineural and profound hearing loss patients were less satisfied, with 5.4% and 50.0% of the subjects revealing dissatisfaction with their hearing aids. CONCLUSION Patients were generally very satisfied with their hearing aids. Satisfaction rates were higher among patients fitted with in-the-ear hearing aids. Dissatisfaction was higher in subscale Personal Image. Lesser degrees of satisfaction were seen in patients with sensorineural and profound hearing loss.