Follow up of people fitted with hearing aids after adult hearing screening: the need for support after fitting.

In the British population only 20-25% of people who report hearing difficulties possess a hearing aid. We have proposed that adult hearing screening would increase the use of hearing aids. In three studies conducted in Wales between 1982 and 1992 all people aged 50-65 in four general practices were sent a screening questionnaire on hearing difficulties. Those who reported hearing problems were tested audiometrically and were offered a hearing aid if the average hearing level in their worse ear was worse than 30 dB. Two of these studies showed that this intervention increased by threefold the possession of hearing aids in the target populations. Screening was thus effective in the short term; in this study we examined whether the people fitted with aids in the earlier studies continued to use them long term.