Qualidade de vida em um grupo de idosos com perda auditiva e queixa de zumbido: contribuições da sistematização da assistência de enfermagem

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The aging of the population has been constant and irreversible, and has demanded more attention from public authorities, health professionals and families to the elderly population. In choosing the theme "Quality of life in a group of elderly subjects with hearing loss and tinnitus: contributions of the systematization of nursing care", the object was to study a population that is marked by physiological and functional limitations, but also has proven to be increasingly active and participatory in society. Hearing and its problems, such as difficulty in understanding others and tinnitus, are covered in this work in order to understand their impact on the quality of life in the elderly, and how nursing, which is concerned with health promotion, can contribute with thoughts and actions. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the quality of life of a group of elderly subjects with hearing loss and tinnitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 53 subjects, 30 females and 20 males, all with hearing loss, who are hearing aid wearers with tinnitus, and who underwent an audiological evaluation, acuphenometry, and who answered the questionnaires for the Quality of Life Index (QLI) and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). RESULTS: The sample was characterized as having moderate and sloping sensorineural hearing loss; the prevalent type of tinnitus was of an average pitch; 39% of women reported having tinnitus with moderate discomfort and 35% of men reported severe discomfort; 100% of the sample is satisfied or very satisfied with their quality of life and its degree of importance; there was no significant difference between the investigated variables. CONCLUSION: Whereas there was no relationship between quality of life and the impact of tinnitus, and there was no relationship between type, pitch, and degree of tinnitus symptoms; it is concluded that the presence of the symptoms is not interfering in the quality of life of the subjects studied.