Older Adult Performance on the Communication Profile for the Hearing Impaired

Abstract

Gender difference in auditory function with age is well documented. However, little is known about the influence of interacting sensory, psycho-social, and economic variables on adjustment to hearing loss. Adjustment to acquired, mild-to-moderate hearing loss by advantaged older women and men was examined using the Communication Profile for the Hearing Impaired (CPHI) (Demorest & Erdman, 1987). Correlational analyses revealed relationships between scales to be similar for women and men. Controlling for socio-demographic and hearing variables, group responses for the majority of CPHI scales did not differ significantly. Six scales differed significantly, and those results are discussed. When compared to men, women assigned greater importance to effective social communication, were more likely to use nonverbal communication strategies, reported greater anger and stress, and reported greater problem awareness and less denial associated with hearing loss. The CPHI is a useful tool for specifying parameters of perceived communication handicap for both older men and women. Findings underscore the need to consider gender-specific self-assessment of communication and personal adjustment in clinical management of older adults with age-related hearing loss.

Impact of Spouse Vision Impairment on Partner Health and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Analysis of Couples

“…Acitelli (2002) noted that studies have consistently demonstrated that variables emphasizing connections between partners are more important to the well-being and relationship satisfaction of wives than of husbands. These and other studies suggest that communication may be more important for women in marriage than for men (Garstecki & Erler, 1999); if this is so, one would expect that the extent to which vision impairment makes communication more difficult would have a more negative impact on wives than husbands.…”

The ICF core sets for hearing loss project: Functioning and disability from the patient perspective

“…In this case, hearing loss stigma is a mediating factor and is part of the causal pathway between problems with a health related activity and the engagement in a life situation. Numerous studies have identified such environmental factors, such as hearing aids (Mulrow et al, 1990), the acoustical environment (Gatehouse & Noble, 2004), hearing loss stigma (Hétu, 1996), and applied coping strategies (Garstecki & Erler, 1999). Consequently, failing to map such factors would yield an incomplete understanding of a person's functioning and personal situation.…”

Spousal Interrelations in Self-Reports of Cognition in the Context of Marital Problems

“…Likewise, a study using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging reported that perceptual speed for husbands predicted subsequent perceptual speed decline for wives 1 year later but reported no evidence for the opposite effect [7] . Studies of older couples involving affective transmissions and conditions such as hearing loss and cognitive problems on health and well-being have also reported stronger impacts on wives than husbands [8][9][10] . Rationales for wives include greater importance of communication in marriage [8,10] and greater importance of spouse relationships for older wives [11] .…”

“…Studies of older couples involving affective transmissions and conditions such as hearing loss and cognitive problems on health and well-being have also reported stronger impacts on wives than husbands [8][9][10] . Rationales for wives include greater importance of communication in marriage [8,10] and greater importance of spouse relationships for older wives [11] . We only found 2 studies with the opposite unidirectional relationship.…”