Effects of Impaired Hearing on Perceived Health and Life Situation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the association between level of hearing loss (HL) and perceived health and life situation. A population sample of 343 outpatient adults who consulted a university hospital in Norway for hearing aids and rehabilitation was studied. Health and life situation was assessed by self-reported measures of general health, anxiety, participation in social activities, and life satisfaction. Level of HL was estimated by mean hearing threshold in the better ear, and categorized according to international standards. Subjects with normal hearing in the better ear were used as reference. Explanatory health and life situation variables were dichotomized and analysed using logistic regression models. The results showed that perception of good health was negatively affected by increasing HL before and after adjustment for potential confounders (p for trend <0.05). Compared with non-impaired individuals, the odds of perceiving their health as “not good”, were four times higher for the most severely affected subjects (p < 0.05). The odds for reporting anxiety, of abstaining from participation in social activities, and of being generally dissatisfied increased for patients with moderate and higher levels of HL. In conclusion, perception of health was negatively associated with increasing HL, while anxiety, participation in social activities, and perceived life satisfaction did not significantly correlate with the level of loss. Thus, degree of HL seems to be of quite limited importance when consequences of HL are judged.

The Faculty of Medicine, NTNU and St Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway funded this research. The authors thank Haakon Arnesen, MD and Siri Wennberg, BSc for their valuable participation. The authors also thank Anders Ringdahl, MD, PhD, for assistance with the audiological questions, Hanne Thürmer, MD, PhD, for reviewing manuscripts, and Pål Romundstad, MSc, PhD, for statistical advice.