title: Self-reported hearing difficulties, communication strategies and psychological general well-being (quality of life) in patients with acquired hearing impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims were to (i) translate the Amsterdam Inventory for Auditory Disability and Handicap (AIADH) into Swedish and evalute its usefulness, (ii) describe hearing difficulties and psychological well-being (quality of life) and (iii) explore variables related to psychological well-being in a Swedish population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine consecutive patients, referred to the hearing clinic for hearing examination and audiological rehabilitation, formed the study sample. Along with pure-tone audiometry, the AIADH, the Psychological General Well-being index and the Communication Strategies Scale were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men had significantly worse hearing on the high frequencies (2, 3, 4 and 6 kHz) than women but their quality of life was significantly higher than for women. Men scored significantly lower on 'auditory localization' and adopted non-verbal communication strategies less often than women. A stepwise regression analysis showed that 'maladaptive behaviours' and 'intelligibility in quiet' explained 48% of the variance in quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychosocial consequences of hearing loss, such as lowered quality of life, cannot be predicted from audiometric data alone. The adverse relationship between maladaptive behaviour and quality of life emphasizes the relevance of developing training programs aiming to improve coping with the consequences of a hearing impairment. The AIADH may be useful in assessing self-reported difficulties among patients with hearing problems, but needs to be further developed in terms of psychometric evaluations and reliability testings based on a larger representative sample.
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Health Sciences, Halmstad University, Sweden. Lillemor.Hallberg@hos.hh.se
authors.forename: Lillemor R M
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Hallberg
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hallberg
authors.forename: Sophia E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kramer
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires