Association Between Hearing Impairment and the Quality of Life of Elderly Individuals

Abstract

Hearing impairment is one of the most common chronic health problems of elderly Americans. Although adverse effects on quality of life are thought to be considerable, they have not been rigorously evaluated. This study was designed to identify the types and extent of dysfunction experienced by elderly individuals with hearing loss, and to define the most appropriate measures for assessing this dysfunction. Elderly male veterans attending a primary care clinic were screened for hearing loss and had their quality of life assessed with a comprehensive battery of disease-specific and generic measures. Of 472 people who had their hearing tested, 106 had hearing loss. Hearing loss was associated with significant emotional (P = .0001), social (P = .0001), and communication (P = .02) dysfunction. Most individuals (66%) perceived these dysfunctions as severe handicaps even though audiologic loss revealed only mild to moderate impairment (pure tone average loss, 27-55 dB). Adverse effects were best detected with disease-specific rather than generic functional status measures. We conclude that hearing impairment is associated with important adverse effects on the quality of life of elderly individuals, and that these effects are perceived as severe handicaps even by individuals with only mild to moderate degrees of hearing loss.

Psychosocial Adaptations to Dual Sensory Loss in Middle and Late Adulthood

“…34,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] Of particular concern for rehabilitation providers are studies that find depression is more prevalent among persons with dual loss than those with single impairments in vision or hearing. For example, among community-dwelling older individuals with objective assessments of sensory function (ie, Snellen acuity and free-field voice testing), visual and hearing impairments increased the odds of depression by 2.3 and 1.8, respectively.…”

Hearing Loss and Approaches to Hearing Loss in Elderly

“…22 Mulrov ve arkadaşlarının, yaptıkları kesitsel çalışmada "Hearing Handicap Inventrory for the Elderly", "Quantified Denver Scale of CommunicationFunction", "Short Portabale Mental Status Questionnare", "Geriatric Depression Scale", "Self Evaluation of Life Function" anketlerini kullanarak, 204 yaşlı gazi erkek katılımcıda işitme kaybı ve yaşam kalitesini incelemişlerdir. 23 İşitme kaybının sosyal, duygusal ve iletişim becerilerini anlamlı bir şekilde etkilediğini tespit etmişlerdir. Tedavi edilmemiş işitme ve kulak sorunları özellikle kızgınlık, reddedilme korkusu, yorgunluk, dikkat eksikliği, hafıza sorunları, yeni bilgi ve becerileri öğrenememe, iş performansında azalma gibi kişinin hem fiziksel hem duygusal durumunu negatif yönde etkileyebilecek sorunlara sebep olabilmektedir.…”

Social capital and mental health

“…Another example of mental health promotion among the elderly is an intervention set in primary care clinics to assess whether hearing aids could improve the quality of life of elderly people with hearing loss (Mulrow et al, 1990). A screening survey identified 194 elderly veterans with impaired hearing.…”