Comprehensive assessment of the results of rehabilitation of older patients with chronic sensorineural hearing loss

Purpose: to evaluate the results of rehabilitation of patients of the older age group with chronic sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) during auditory training and in the long-term period. Material and methods. 78 patients took part in the study (mean age 77.6±10.4 years), the indices of speech and spatial hearing were assessed. Results. Auditory training improved the accuracy of determining the target signal and the response time in the elderly (group I) and elderly patients and long-livers (group II). An increase in interhemispheric interaction with dichotic listening was revealed: speech intelligibility in group I increased by 5.7 % by 1 month, in group II - 3.6 %, the indicator approached the pre-training level in group I by 6 months and in group II by 3 months. According to SSQrus-12, the average score in group I by month 1 became 6.4 % higher due to the Hearing Quality and Spatial Hearing scales, in group II - by 10.4 % due to the Hearing Quality scale with retention for six months. According to the SF-36 questionnaire, the stability of a positive result was revealed for 6 months for both groups: the total score for group I was 88.1±7.4 points, for group II - 84.8±3.7 points. Conclusion. The assessment of auditory rehabilitation allows us to recommend the need for a repeated course of auditory training for people over 75 years old with a frequency of every 3 months, for elderly patients every six months.