Patients' Task-Orientation and Perceived Benefit of Amplification in Hearing-Impaired Elderly Persons

This study investigated the reported handicap of 50 elderly hearing-impaired patients who were classified as high or low in task-orientation. Measures of perceived handicap were taken when subjects were fitted with hearing aids and three months later. Analysis indicated that subjects classified as both high and low on task-orientation reported significant increases in their hearing impairment at 3 mo., but subjects classified as high on task-orientation reported significantly less handicap than subjects classified as low.