1Professor & Principal, Laxmi Memorial College of Physiotherapy, A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka State, India
2Post Graduate Student, Laxmi Memorial College of Physiotherapy, A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka State, India
*Corresponding author: Sanjay Eapen Samuel Professor & Principal, Laxmi Memorial College of Physiotherapy, A.J Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka State, India E-mail Address: eapenss@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 28 December, 2016.
Hearing loss is considered as a partial or total inability to hear. It is the most common sensory deficit in the elderly and it is becoming a severe social and health problem. Especially in the elderly, hearing loss can impair the exchange of information, thus significantly impacting everyday life, causing loneliness, isolation, dependence and frustration as well as communication disorders, which has been reported to reduce the quality of life (QOL). This extra burden in turn increases the risk of developing mental health problems like depression. The present study was aimed at finding out the association of severity of auditory impairment related handicap with quality of life in older adults.
The study was conducted in 94 subjects with hearing impairment. Each individual underwent clinical evaluation. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening (HHIE-S) version was used to assess the hearing impairment related handicap. Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) was used to measure the quality of life in the subjects.
Mann Whitney U test was used to find the association between the severity of auditory impairment related handicap and quality of life in older adults. Results showed that severity of auditory impairment related handicap is not associated with quality of life in older adults
The present study has shown that the severity of auditory impairment related handicap is not associated with poor quality of life in older adults
Auditory impairment, quality of life
