title: Relationship between self-reported hearing and measured hearing impairment in an elderly population in Finland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the Finnish version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly Screening (HHIE-S) questionnaire and a simple single-question method in detecting hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the HHIE-S score and the single question with audiometry results. By analysing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the HHIE-S scores we estimated the appropriate cut-off points for the different degrees of hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  164 home-dwelling subjects in the age cohorts of 70, 75, 80 and 85 years in an industrialized town in Finland filled in the questionnaire, and attended the audiometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the detection of moderate or worse hearing loss (i.e., pure tone average at 0.5-4 kHz frequencies >40 dB), the HHIE-S cut-off score of >8 had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 59.7%. The single question had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 70.7%. Thus, the single question was equally sensitive and more specific in detecting moderate or worse hearing loss than the HHIE-S score. However, for the detection of mild hearing loss (i.e., pure tone average >25 dB), the HHIE-S was more sensitive but less specific than the single question.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Turku University Hospital, Finland. jaakko.salonen@tyks.fi
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salonen
authors.forename: Reijo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karjalainen
authors.forename: Tero
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vahlberg
authors.forename: Raimo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Isoaho
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D057566:Self Report