AIM: To verify whether the adaptation to hearing aids contributes to the improvement of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL).CASE REPORT: We evaluated 17 individuals (4 [23.5%] men and 13 [76.5%] women) aged58-96 years (mean age, 77.1 ± 10.4 years). All were new users of hearing aids. Evaluation included audiological history and social history; pure tone audiometry; and assessment by the IADL scale (developed by Lawton and Brody) in which 3 points indicated a patient who could perform daily activities without help, 2 points indicated a patient who needed partial assistance, and 1 point indicated a patient who was unable to perform daily activities without help. The IADL was assessed before hearing aid adaptation, after 3 months of use, and after 6months of use. Data analysis revealed that before using hearing aids, the patients' average IADL score was 22.94 ± 4.04 points, 23.29 ± 4.12 points after 3 months of using hearing aids, and 23.71 ± 3.69 points after 6 months of using hearing aids. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between the scores obtained before the use of hearing aids and at 6 months post-fitting (p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The use of hearing aids promoted positive changes in performing IADL.
