Musicians' Hearing Handicap Index: A New Questionnaire to Assess the Impact of Hearing Impairment in Musicians and Other Music Professionals

Abstract

Purpose We aimed to develop and validate the Musicians' Hearing Handicap Index (MHHI), a new self-evaluation tool for quantifying occupation-related auditory difficulties in music professionals. Although pure-tone audiometry is often considered the “gold standard” and is usually employed as the main instrument for hearing assessment, it cannot fully describe the impact of hearing dysfunction. The MHHI is an attempt to complement the hearing impairment assessment toolbox and is based on a unique approach to quantify the effects of hearing-related symptoms or hearing loss on the performance of musicians and other music industry professionals. Method An initial set of 143 questionnaire items was successively refined through a series of critical appraisals, modifications, and suggestions. This yielded an intermediate questionnaire consisting of 43 items, which was administered to 204 musicians and sound engineers. After exploratory factor analysis, the final form of the MHHI questionnaire was obtained, consisting of 29 items. The questionnaire's test–retest reliability, internal consistency, discriminating power, content validity, criterion validity, and aspects of construct validity and inherent conceptual structure were assessed. Results Exploratory factor analysis revealed a combination of four common factors for the 29 validated questionnaire items. They were named “impact on social and working lives,” “difficulties in performance and sound perception,” “communication difficulties,” and “emotional distress.” The MHHI was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess musicians' and sound engineers' occupational difficulties due to hearing impairment and related symptoms. Conclusion The ability of the MHHI to discriminate between groups of music professionals with different auditory symptoms or pure-tone audiometry thresholds suggests that auditory symptoms might influence a professional's performance to an extent that cannot be assessed by a pure-tone audiogram.

Auditory Processing in Musicians, a Cross-Sectional Study, as a Basis for Auditory Training Optimization

“…Secondly, although there was no statistical evidence for participants' mean age, a slight difference in age among the four groups, could be the reason for the absence of differentiation among the three musical groups, or from musicians to nonmusicians, in speech in noise comprehension, according to previous research [122,123]. Our subjects were also not required to have pure-tone thresholds better than 20 dB at the audiometric test or fill a questionnaire to assess the impact of their hearing impairment [124], whereas normal hearing was necessary for Varnet et al [125] as musicians are more likely to experience hearing problems [124][125][126]. Interestingly, out of the three musicians with abnormal pure tone thresholds in one or two high frequencies, only one has an average pure tone threshold of more than 20 dB, which is considered normal.…”

Hearing loss and mental health issues in amateur and professional musicians

“…Furthermore, PTA thresholds are not always related to the presence or severity of hearing issues. For this reason, Vardonikolaki et al (2020) developed a self-report questionnaire for musicians called the Musicians' Hearing Handicap Index (MHHI), to help quantify and describe the challenges that music professionals face in their work and personal lives. The questionnaire has good reliability and validity and is able to discriminate between groups of musicians who have different auditory symptoms or different PTA thresholds.…”