경제 수준의 향상, 의료기술 발전 등으로 인해 인간의 평균 수 명이 길어져 인구의 노령화는 오늘날 모든 국가가 고민하는 문 제가 되었다. 우리나라의 경우도 매우 빠른 속도로 고령 사회에 진입하고 있어 많은 영역에서 노인들이 갖는 문제에 대해 관심 을 갖고 있다. 노령 인구가 겪는 문제 가운데 어음 청취 및 의사 소통의 불편 등을 일으키는 노인성 난청(presbycusis)을 빠뜨릴 수 없다. 노인성 난청은 노화로 인해 발생하는 전형적인 퇴행성 변화에 의한 청력손실로 의사소통에 필수적인 어음에 대한 지 각력을 감소시킨다. 특히 노인성 난청은 1 kHz 이상의 주파수 대역에서 심한 청력손실이 발생하는 것이 특징으로(Mo´scicki et al., 1985), 연령에 따라 점차 청력손실 정도가 심해지고 단어 인지도 점수도 점차 낮아진다(Baek et al., 2013).
Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effects of wearing a hearing aid on the speech perception and hearing handicap index of the elderly with presbycusis. Methods: This study examined whether there were differences in the scores of consonant and sentence perception and hearing handicap index according to age and degree of hearing loss with 34 the elderly with presbycusis. Results: First, there was a significant difference in consonant perception before and after wearing a hearing aids. However, there was a significant difference in consonant perception according to the degrees of hearing loss while there was no significant difference according to age. Second, there was a significant difference in the score of sentence perception before and after wearing a hearing aid. In addition, there was a significant difference in the score of sentence perception according to age and the degree of hearing loss, too. Third, there was a significant difference in hearing handicap index before and after wearing a hearing aid. In addition, there was a significant difference in hearing handicap index according to age and the degree of hearing loss. Conclusion: It is noted that wearing a hearing aid has positive effects on speech perception and hearing handicap index of the elderly with presbycusis, and it is concluded that even in patients with presbycusis, the effects of hearing aids increase in those who are relatively younger with less hearing loss.
INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS DISCUSSIONS REFERENCES
