The Health Impact of a Hearing Disability on Older People in Australia

Abstract

Data support emerging literature suggesting a causal relationship between hearing disability and quality of life. Prospective studies to further examine this relationship are indicated.

Prevalência de deficiência auditiva referida e fatores associados em uma população de idosos da cidade de Manaus: um estudo de base populacional

“…A study that evaluated hearing loss among older Australians found 71% of individuals with limited communication 34 . Tanaka, Araujo and Assencio-Ferreira 35 on investigating the consequences of hearing loss in the elderly communication observed that auditory deficits did not compromise significantly; being neurological problems more responsible for communication disorders in that group.…”

Hearing Loss in an Aging American Population: Extent, Impact, and Management

“…Hearing difficulty ranked third behind respiratory disease and arthritis in negative impact on the physical health component score and second to digestive disorders on the mental health component score. Data from the 2003 Australian Survey of Disability, Aging and Carers also demonstrated that among adults aged 55 years and older, reporting a hearing disability was associated with lower age-specific healthrelated quality of life in both physical and mental health scales on the SF-12 quality-of-life survey (23).…”

Deafness-Specific Tactic Knowledge: A New Understanding of Mental Health, and Social and Professional Participation

“…Kvam, Loeb, and Tambs (2007) further found that negative childhood experiences (e.g., parental abuse, bullying, and sexual abuse) increased the probability of mental health problems in deaf adults. Hearing spouses of people with acquired deafness have additionally reported comparatively poorer psychological, physical, and social wellbeing when measured with population norms (Fellinger et al, 2005;Hogan et al, 2001;Hogan, O'Loughlin, Davis, A., & Kendig, 2009b).…”

“…Larger studies by Hintermair (2008) and Hogan et al (2009b) suggested that many themes in the smaller studies are prevalent across the broader population of deaf people. When interacting with hearing peers, deaf individuals are often required to make sense ofand to concurrently act upon -the social situation with less-than-ideal hearing.…”

“…When interacting with hearing peers, deaf individuals are often required to make sense ofand to concurrently act upon -the social situation with less-than-ideal hearing. Another important finding is that stress and anxiety tends to occur when the environmental demands exceed a deaf individual's resources for coping with events (Hogan et al, 2009b;Jones, E.G., et al, 2006). As such, it is not deafness per se that contributes to psychiatric problems.…”