Abstract Hearing aid (HA) rehabilitation was studied in northern Finland. The costs of HA fitting were examined at two hospitals, Kainuu Central Hospital and Oulu University Hospital. The patients were visited and interviewed at their home and use of HAs was charted. The benefit of HAs was evaluated using generic and disease-specific questionnaires. The effect of follow-up counselling of HA users on HA use and on the benefit of HAs was studied.

The proportion of all HA possessors that are regular users has clearly increased during the past twenty years, and the number of non-users, in particular, has decreased significantly. Only 5.3% of first fitted HAs were not in use in 2001.

The costs of HA fitting in 2000 were approximately € 900. There was not much difference in the costs between Kainuu Central Hospital and Oulu University Hospital. The price of a HA accounted for somewhat less than half of the total hospital costs, and the costs of the audiology personnel made up roughly a third of the overall costs.

Emotional problems of HA users were significant before HA fitting, but six months after HA fitting the number of patients who felt handicapped by their hearing problems had decreased significantly. This could be seen in the results of both the social and the emotional items of the disease-specific health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) measure, the short version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE-S). The benefit could not, however, be shown with the generic HRQOL instrument, the EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D), which apparently lacks sensitivity for measuring changes brought about by audiological intervention.

Follow-up counselling of HA users can significantly increase HA use and decrease the number of non-users. It can also significantly increase the users’ handling skills. The cost of follow-up counselling is approximately € 83 per fitted HA, which is an 8.7% increment to the calculated cost of fitting a HA.