The relationship between the health status of external auditory canal (EAC) corneum stratum or keratin and success in the adaptation to wearing hearing aids and earmolds was investigated. In a retrospective study the file data of 98 participants (N = 98, mean age = 70.3 years) meeting the candidacy criteria were analyzed in terms of successful adaptation to wearing hearing aids. Participant data were analyzed for correlation between predictor and criterion variables. While age seemed to have no significant relationship with keratin status (r = .089), sub-criterion variables of remakes and returns for credit demonstrated an inverse relationship with the thickness of EAC keratin (r = -.372 and r = -.386, respectively). Furthermore, keratin status and adaptation demonstrated a strong correlational relationship (r = .627) over the 45-day fitting process. Consequently it was demonstrated that a significant reduction in factors that contribute to failure to fit may be realized by paying closer attention to the physiological behavior of the human EAC and the underlying health dynamics that require accommodation for each individual hearing aid user.
展开▼
