This device has high sensitivity and specificity but is expensive and requires some skill to be used correctly. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly screening version is a 10-item questionnaire that is useful for screening cognitively intact elderly patients. Patients with hearing loss should undergo formal audiological assessment by an audiologist. The evaluation includes a pure tone audiogram to document the decibel loss across frequency ranges and to determine whether the loss is sensorineural or mixed. Management Treatment for hearing loss may be surgical, medical, or rehabilitative.
Patient education is important with any treatment.
Surgical approaches are indicated for patients with obstructive lesions of the external auditory canal and remedial causes of conductive hearing loss. Stapedectomy is the most common surgical intervention for otosclerosis. Cochlear implants are of value to patients with profound sensorineural deafness for whom a conventional hearing aid is not feasible. A change in medical treatments may be indicated for patients who experience sensorineural hearing loss. Most patients with sensorineural or cochlear disease will benefit from aural rehabilitation.