Auditory Rehabilitation and Emotions

Abstract

Hearing loss is a public health problem that affects about 10% of the Portuguese population. It shows itself in personal, family, social and work life, leading many individuals to experience negative emotions such as fear, irritation, frustration, embarrassment, among others. Technologies developed for Hearing Rehabilitation, such as hearing aids, allow to relieve the impact of hearing loss. In this research, the emotional questions of the HHIE questionnaire were used, in 10 individuals, before and after the auditory rehabilitation process with Widex Evoke bilateral hearing systems to assess emotional differences in the moment immediately before the process and two months after the beginning of the process. The results demonstrate that it is more frequent to experience anxiety, frustration and embarrassment in a hearing loss and that after the hearing rehabilitation process there is a reduction in the emotions of embarrassment, frustration, feeling diminished, anxiety and isolation.