Adherencia y desempe？o auditivo en uso de audífonos en pacientes adultos hipoacúsicos atendidos en la Red de Salud UC

introduction: presbiacusy is a frequent problem with high impact in quality of life. use of hearing aids is the main strategy of treatment, although low adherence and subjective performance has been described in most patients. aim: assess the adherence, subjective hearing performance and satisfaction of adult patients with hearing loss users of hearing aids from red de salud uc. material and method: cross sectional, descriptive, follow up study of 84 patients with hearing loss and indication of hearing aid use according to ？ges？ criteria, evaluated between august 2010 and july 2011. questions about behaviour on the use of hearing aid were done, subjective performance was evaluated trough the validated ？hearing handicap inventory for the elderly-screening (hhies)？ and a satisfaction score (from 1 to 7). results: 84 patients were surveyed 64.3% female and had a mean age of 74.6 years. 48%% of patients used the hearing aid 1 or more days of the week, satisfaction (subjective scale from 1 to 7) was 5.4. the subjective hearing performance was hhies 18 points (mild-moderate impairment). discussion: one out of two patients to whom a hearing aid is indicated is not using it. although there is an adequate implementation, in most patients persists a moderate subjective impairment (hhies). our findings of adherence and performance are similar to the described in the national literature.