Covid-19 Lockdown Affects Hearing Disability and Handicap in Diverse Ways: A Rapid Online Survey Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the perceived effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) social distancing restrictions and safety measures on people with hearing loss. Design: Participants were 129 adults (48.1% female, mean age 64.4 years) with an audiometric hearing loss, living in Glasgow, Scotland. A rapidly deployed 24-item online questionnaire asked about the effects of certain aspects of lockdown, including face masks, social distancing, and video calling, on participants' behavior, emotions, hearing performance, practical issues, and tinnitus. Data were analyzed descriptively across the entire sample, and with Chi-squared tests for differences between subgroups self-reporting relatively good and relatively poor unaided hearing, respectively. Additional free-text responses provided further perspectives. Results: Behavior: Video calls are used more frequently than prelockdown. The better-hearing group use their hearing aids less. Emotions: There is increased anxiety (especially among the worse hearing group) concerning verbal communication situations and access to audiology services, and greater rumination about one's own hearing loss. Enjoyment of group video calls is mixed. The worse hearing group shows substantial relief at not being obliged to attend challenging social gatherings. Across both groups, a majority would like to see all key workers equipped with transparent face masks. Hearing performance: A large majority finds it hard to converse with people in face masks due to muffled sound and lack of speechreading cues, but conversing at a safe distance is not universally problematic. In the worse hearing group, performance in video calls is generally inferior to face-to-face, but similar to telephone calls. Those who use live subtitling in video calls appreciate their value. TV and radio updates about Covid-19 are easy to follow for most respondents. There is only weak evidence of face mask fixtures interfering with hearing aids on the ear, and of tinnitus having worsened during lockdown. Conclusions: With due regard for the limitations of this rapid study, we find that there are many negative-and a few positive-effects of Covid-19 restrictions and safety measures on people with hearing loss. From a societal perspective, the widespread adoption of clear face masks may alleviate some of the difficulties and anxieties this population experience. From an individual perspective, one may consider using live subtitles on video calls. Manufacturers of hearing devices should consider developing processing modes and accessories specifically designed for video calls. Finally, repair and maintenance services should be resumed as soon as it is safe to do so.

Self-reported hearing difficulties are associated with loneliness, depression and cognitive dysfunction during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Anxiety levels measured using GAD-7 were not significantly associated with SSQ12 scores. This is in keeping with results from a recent survey that demonstrated that during the pandemic, almost 70% of people with worse hearing felt relief not to be obliged to attend social gatherings (Naylor, Burke, and Holman 2020). Therefore, for some people with HL who may struggle with group conversations, the enforced distancing has meant a reduction in anxiety regarding attending social gatherings and communication in noisy public areas.…”

“…com/doi/suppl. Due to the time pressures to collect the data during the COVID-19 pandemic, best practice methodology, such as validation of this measure, was relaxed in the interest of speed, as were the case with other COVID-19 related research (Geldsetzer 2020;Naylor, Burke, and Holman 2020;Saunders and Roughley 2020). Participants were asked to complete the measure twice, as they would have "before lockdown" as well as in their current situation.…”

“…Therefore, people who need hearing tests or hearing aid maintenance have been put on a waiting list to be seen when clinical practices resume. This alone may have a profound impact on people with HL, as demonstrated in a recent survey in Scotland, which reported 60% of participants were more worried than usual if their hearing aids stopped working or of not being able to get batteries (Naylor, Burke, and Holman 2020).…”

“…Finally, enforced social distancing means that people should not communicate with those outside their households except via technology (telephone, email, video calls etc.). People with HL may not be able to benefit from these means of communication as readily due to degraded sound quality during digital transmission and decreased auditory processing abilities (Moore et al 2019;Naylor, Burke, and Holman 2020). For our older population with HL, this may be further exacerbated as almost half of all people over the age of 70 live alone (Office for National Statistics 2019) and thus will rely on these external connections for meaningful communication.…”

Impact of face masks in public spaces during COVID‐19 pandemic on daily life communication of cochlear implant users

“…The potential negative impact of face masks on communication in general has recently been appointed in the popular press and in scientific literature 4‐9 . Most of these papers address the problem from the perspective of the patient—health worker relationship.…”