Efeitos da adaptação às próteses auditivas na qualidade de vida, no equilíbrio e no medo de queda em idosos com perda neurossensorial / Effects of hearing aids in the balance, quality of life and fear to fall in elderly people with sensorineural hearing loss

Introdução: O processo de envelhecimento provoca modificações estruturais e funcionais à saude, comprometendo o controle postural e processamento central. Estudos têm abordado a necessidade de identificar os fatores de risco prejudiciais à saúde auditiva e segurança em idosos acometidos por déficits auditivos e com alterações de equilíbrio. Objetivo: Avaliar o efeito da prótese auditiva na qualidade de vida, no equilíbrio e no medo de queda em idosos com perda auditiva bilateral. Método: Estudo clínico e experimental realizado com 56 idosos com perda auditiva neurossensorial, submetidos ao uso da prótese auditiva de amplificação sonora individual (AASI). Os idosos responderam aos questionários de qualidade de vida Short Form Health Survery (SF-36), Falls Efficacy Scale- Internacional (FES-I) e o teste de Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Após 4 meses, os idosos que adaptaram ao uso da AASI foram reavaliados. Resultados: Houve 50% de adaptação dos idosos ao AASI. Foi observado que o sexo masculino teve maior dificuldade em adaptar ao aparelho auditivo e que as variáveis idade, grau de perda, presença de zumbido e vertigem não interferiram na adaptação à prótese auditiva. Houve melhora da qualidade de vida nos domínios Estado da Saúde Geral (EGS) e Capacidade Funcional (CF) e do zumbido, assim como o aumento da auto-confiança após adaptação da prótese auditiva. Conclusão: O uso de prótese auditiva propiciou a melhora dos domínios da qualidade de vida, o que refletiu em uma melhor auto-confiança e consequentemente a longo prazo na redução do medo de queda em idosos com perda auditiva neurossensorial...

Introduction: The aging process provokes structural modifications and functional to it greets, compromising the postural control and central processing. Studies have boarded the necessity to identify to the harmful factors of risk to aged the auditory health and security in stricken aged by auditory deficits and with alterations of balance. Objective: To evaluate the effect of auditory prosthesis in the quality of life, the balance and the fear of fall in aged with bilateral auditory loss. Method: Carried through clinical and experimental study with 56 aged ones with sensorineural auditory loss, submitted to the use of auditory prosthesis of individual sonorous amplification (AASI). The aged ones had answered to the questionnaires of quality of life Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Falls Efficacy International Scale- (FES-I) and the test of Berg Balance Scale (BBS). After 4 months, the aged ones that they adapted to the use of the AASI had been reevaluated. Results: It had 50% of adaptation of the aged ones to the AASI. It was observed that the masculine sex had greater difficulty in adapting to the auditory device and that the variable age, degree of loss, presence of humming and vertigo had not intervened with the adaptation to auditory prosthesis. It had improvement of the quality of life in the dominance of the State General Health (EGS) and Functional Capacity (CF) and of the humming, as well as the increase of the auto-confidence after adaptation of auditory prosthesis. Conclusion: The use of auditory prosthesis provided the improvement of the domains of the quality of life, what it reflected consequently in one better auto-confidence and in the long run in the reduction of the fear of fall in aged with sensorineural auditory loss...

Evaluation of the health-related quality of life in elderly patients according to the type of hip fracture: femoral neck or trochanteric

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect the type of hip fracture (femoral neck or trochanteric) has on the Health-Related Quality of Life of elderly subjects. METHODS: Forty-five patients with hip fractures (mean 74.30 ± 7.12 years), 24 with a femoral neck fracture and 21 with a trochanteric fracture, completed the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) at baseline and four months after fracture. The Health-Related Quality of Life scores were compared according to fracture type, undisplaced and displaced femoral neck fractures, and stable and unstable trochanteric fractures. RESULTS: Compared to baseline, all patients scored lower in the physical functioning, role limitation-physical, bodily pain and vitality categories four months after the fracture had occurred. The SF-36 scores for all the scales did not differ significantly between patients with femoral neck versus trochanteric fractures, or between patients with displaced versus undisplaced femoral neck fractures and stable versus unstable trochanteric fractures. CONCLUSIONS: The mental and physical quality of life of elderly patients with a hip fracture is severely impaired one month after fracture, with partial recovery by the end of the fourth month. The negative impact on the Health-Related Quality of Life did not differ significantly according to fracture type.