Otosclerosis and Stapedoplasty in Older Adults

Abstract

The results show that stapedoplasty offers greater improvement in quality of life for selected adults aged 60 and older than for younger adults. The operation also appears to be as safe for adults aged 60 and older as for younger adults. Stapedoplasty provides subjects with satisfactory social hearing level (hearing capacity sufficient for normal social relations) and slows the progression of otosclerosis. Providing older patients with good auditory functionality improves their state of health, quality of life, and cognitive processes.

Patient's quality of life and hearing outcomes after stapes surgery

“…A patient with a recent history is unlikely to have accepted the hearing impairment, and expectations for hearing restoration are subsequently higher which in turn increases the risk of disappointment. This is reflected in our findings which show that patients with long‐term hearing loss experienced a greater improvement in the QOL component of the HDHS 22 …”

“…This is reflected in our findings which show that patients with long-term hearing loss experienced a greater improvement in the QOL component of the HDHS. 22 Finally, it is clear that retrospective studies, such as this one, are limited as they can be affected by the memory of the patient. On the contrary, studies that reply on memory have been shown to be sensitive to change and corre-late well with the patients' overall satisfaction.…”

Hearing thresholds in patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis

“…Recently, we administered a questionnaire about pre‐ and post‐stapedoplasty quality of life to a group of older adults with hearing impairment. All subjects who benefited from the operation with an improvement of the auditory threshold showed an increase of the quality of life, especially in interpersonal relations and daily activities 24 …”

Stapes surgery in relation to age

“…Even in older adults affected by severe damage to the cochlear reserve, the operation is useful; in fact, even though the improvement is not sufficient to definitively cure the patient, it will, however, stop the progression of the disease and provide the subject with a better use of a hearing aid with an important discriminatory improvement 10 . Providing older patients with a good auditory function certainly improves their self‐sufficiency and quality of life and, in some cases, cognitive deficits and depression disorders 17 …”