The Factors Associated with a Self-Perceived Hearing Handicap in Elderly People with Hearing Impairment—Results from a Community-Based Study

Abstract

Our study findings, consistent with those of previous studies, demonstrated that not all elderly persons with impaired hearing function (hearing impairment) perceived a hearing deficit socially or emotionally in everyday life (hearing handicap). Marital status (widowed) and bad/neutral general health were nonaudiologically associated factors with a hearing handicap in the present study. Further, those with a self-perceived hearing handicap reported a higher rate of the use of, or requirement for, hearing aids. Because hearing deterioration is a common biologic process of aging, the results of this study can be used to identify the groups among elderly people with a greater need for hearing screening and hearing rehabilitation services.

The Prevalence of Peripheral and Central Hearing Impairment and Its Relation to Cognition in Older Adults

“…Furthermore, while the HHIE score was shown to correlate significantly with PTA for both low and high frequencies, the correlation was weak (0.44 on the right and 0.45 on the left side for PTA 0.5-2 kHz). Similar results were reported by Chang et al [2009] in a cross-sectional survey of 1,220 community-dwelling elderly individuals aged 65 years and older. In their series, 21.4% of subjects with a moderate-to-profound hearing impairment reported a hearing handicap, and the correlation coefficient between HHIE-S and threshold for frequencies 0.5-4 kHz was 0.52.…”

“…It is interesting to note that the highest HHIE scores in the present series were reported by subjects using hearing aids. This reflects the fact that self-perception of a hearing handicap is an important reason to seek consultation for hearing impairment or for using hearing aids [Chang et al, 2009;Swan and Gatehouse, 1990].…”

Perception of hearing impairment and the willingness to use hearing aids in an elderly population in southern Taiwan: A community-based study

“…In those who perceived no hearing impairment, nine (3.0%) participants had severe or profound hearing impairments in the better ear, and five (1.7%) participants had a HH over 60%. There was a low correlation between self-reported hearing impairment and the results of audiometric testing, which was consistent with the findings of other studies (Dalton et al, 2003;Chang et al, 2009;Feder et al, 2015;Kim, 2015). The low self-reported prevalence of hearing difficulties may reflect the insidious nature of hearing loss, unwitting compensation by the individuals, or the blaming of background noise for hearing difficulties (Doyle & Wong, 1996;Doyle et al, 2002;Feder et al, 2015).…”

Determinants of hearing-aid adoption and use among the elderly: A systematic review

“…A summary of these studies was drawn up, listing the author and year of publication, country, study design, and data collection method, aim, subjects, sample size, instruments used, hearing-aid (Hartley et al, 2010;Ham et al, 2014;Hickson et al, 2014), and only two in Asia (Chang et al, 2009;Mizutari et al, 2013). The majority of the studies were cross-sectional studies, three were cohort studies (Collins et al, 2007;Fischer et al, 2011;Mizutari et al, 2013), two were randomized controlled trials (Yueh et al, 2001;Saunders et al, 2009), and one was a longitudinal study (Humes et al, 2002).…”