Activity limitation and participation restriction in adults seeking hearing aid fitting and rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
We first aimed to describe demographic and audiological characteristics of adults referred to a university hospital for hearing aid (HA) fitting and rehabilitation. Our second aim was to employ an inventory that assesses life consequences of hearing impairment (HI) in terms of perceived activity limitation and participation restriction for the first time in a Norwegian adult outpatient population. A third aim was to study life consequences by audiological and demographic characteristics.


METHODS
During one year consecutive patients (n = 343) were requested to answer the Hearing Disability and Handicap Scale (HDHS) assessing activity limitation and participation restriction in relation to an audiological examination and medical consultation. The mean threshold of hearing (MTH) was ascertained by pure tone thresholds at 0.5 - 1 - 2 - 4 kHz in the better ear.


RESULTS
Activity limitation and participation restriction were both higher for HA experienced than HA naïve subjects ( p < 0.01). In a multivariable model, the explained adjusted variance of activity limitation (R2) was 43.4% with MTH, perceived duration, and severity of hearing problems as predictor variables. Correspondingly, the explained adjusted variance of participation restriction was 28.4% for a model with MTH, age, gender and perceived severity of hearing problems as predictors.


CONCLUSIONS
As a standard supplement to audiometric tests, HDHS may be successfully applied as a clinical tool among similar hearing impaired outpatients in order to assess activity limitation and participation restriction as part of audiological rehabilitation.
ENT Department St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. Anne-Sofie.Helvik@medsin.ntnu.no
Anne-Sofie
AS
Helvik
Geir
G
Jacobsen
Siri
S
Wennberg
Haakon
H
Arnesen
Anders
A
Ringdahl
Lillemor R-M
LR
Hallberg
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D012048:Correction of Hearing Impairment; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires