Hearing aid interventions and its effect on hearing handicap inventory for elderly score among elders with bilateral hearing impairment: A meta-analysis on randomized-controlled trials

Abstract

Background: Several elderly populations face impairment in hearing, difficulty in following discussions in the presence of multiple talkers, understanding the speech of unfamiliar people, understanding fast speech, and understanding speech in noisy environments. Many hearing rehabilitation programs came into the picture for the help of the elderly population. The aim of the meta-analysis was to assess the effect of hearing aid interventions on hearing handicap inventory for elderly (HHIE) scores among elders with bilateral hearing impairment in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Materials and Methods: Two independent reviewers searched for full-text RCTs from worldwide online databases named PubMed and Google Scholar. Studies from January 2000 to January 2022 in the English language conducted among humans were considered. The search strategy contains PICO format in which P-elders with bilateral hearing impairment, I-hearing aid intervention, C-placebo, O-HHIE scores as outcome measures. Results: A total of 28 trials were identified from online databases using PICO format further on evaluation 8 trials with a total of 445 participants were included for the final meta-analysis of the study. The pooled results after sensitivity analysis revealed that 7 trials had a significant reduction in mean difference (MD) of HHIE score among elders with bilateral hearing impairment (MD-2.21 (95% confidence interval [CI] = −4.24 to −0.19), P = 0.03 with heterogeneity (I2 = 48%, P = 0.07) in the fixed-effect model. The Stratified analysis was also done between subgroups as HHIE-social/situational and HHIE-emotional scores shows no significant difference among subgroups for the reduction in a MD of scores −5.34 (95% CI −7.05, −3.64), P = 0.03 without any heterogeneity (I2 = 0%, P = 0.97) with use of fixed-effect model. Conclusion: The findings of the meta-analysis revealed that any type of hearing aids interventional program is found to be effective in reducing HHIE scores. It indicates that these interventions result in a reduction in social and emotional consequences due to hearing loss among elders with bilateral hearing impairment. Adherence to the hearing rehabilitation programs is highly recommended by the researchers to improve social and emotional aspects of life among elders.