ORIGINAL ARTICLE Use of the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) and International outcome inventory of hearing aids (IOI-HA) as a clinical outcome measure in a rural community Lingamdenne Paul Emerson * , Anand Job Department of ENT, Unit-I, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India Received 2 January 2014; accepted 11 May 2014 KEYWORDS NAL-COSI = Client Ori- ented Scale of Improvement; IOI-HA = International outcome inventory for hear- ing aids; HA = hearing aid; CHW = community hearing worker Abstract The burden of hearing loss among adults is large and a significant proportion of the world’s population with hearing disorders goes undetected, as a result relatively few people are fitted with hearing aids. In a developing country this problem becomes magnified due to lack of resources. This study was done in rural area of Vellore district. Hearing rehabilitative services were provided to the rural people and benefit of hearing aids was assessed using self benefit assessment measures Nal-COSI and IOI-HA. A total of 111 clients were followed up for a period of 6 months. It was found that patients having moderately severe to severe hearing loss have more problems and are in need for hearing rehabil- itative services. This model of self benefit assessment measures gives the client a realistic picture and also provides the caregiver the details of hearing aid usage. This model of provision of rehabilitation services of hearing loss can be applied in all developing countries. ª 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Egyptian Society of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences. 1. Introduction In a developing country like India most of the population live in rural areas, where there is a lack of basic amenities and health care, the prevalence of hearing loss is 6.3%. 1,2 There is a paucity of providing hearing health care in rural community due to the limited work force. Even though adequate medical treatment is being provided at the level of primary health care hospitals, the rehabilitation of hearing challenged is less due to inadequate resources of hearing aids and the lack of audiologists in the rural community. This study * Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 04162282075. E-mail addresses: paule@cmcvellore.ac.in (L.P. Emerson), anandjob@cmcvellore.ac.in (A. Job). Peer review under responsibility of Egyptian Society of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences (2014) xxx, xxx–xxx Egyptian Society of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences www.ejentas.com 2090-0740 ª 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Egyptian Society of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejenta.2014.05.004 Please cite this article in press as: Emerson LP, Job A. Use of the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) and International outcome inven- tory of hearing aids (IOI-HA) as a clinical outcome measure in a rural community. Egypt J Ear Nose Throat Allied Sci (2014), http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ejenta.2014.05.004