Emotional responses to King‐Kopetzky syndrome: a qualitative study

Abstract

The objective of the study was to identify the effects of King‐Kopetzky syndrome on emotional well‐being and the effects of emotional well‐being on the condition itself. The study was designed as a qualitative study using semi‐structured interviews, using six patients with long‐standing hearing problems and exposure to a range of interventions. Participants were recruited from Audiology and Hearing Therapy Services, Bath and the Welsh Hearing Institute, Cardiff. Interviews were conducted in participants' homes and work places. King‐Kopetzky syndrome was perceived to result in a change in level of anxiety, distress and depression. The determining factor in whether the change was positive (e.g. reduction in anxiety, distress or depression) or negative (e.g. increase in anxiety, distress or depression) was the person's interpretation of the experience of not hearing. This process of interpretation was based on feeling different towards other people, the relationship with the communicant person, and the confidence to employ strategies and the types of strategies chosen. Participants associated an increase in distress, anxiety or depression with an increase in mishearing or not hearing, and a reduction in hearing difficulties with a reduction in anxiety, distress and depression. It is hypothesised that emotional response to King‐Kopetzky syndrome affects the degree of hearing difficulty experienced. Interventions aimed at the process of interpretation may be a means of empowering individuals in managing their own hearing difficulties.

• emotional effects
• evaluation
• grounded theory
• obscure auditory dysfunction