title: Self reported hearing loss among elderly malaysians.
abstract: A cross-sectional study was conducted on patients attending a primary care facility to determine the prevalence of self reported hearing loss using a single question, "Do you have hearing loss?" Pure tone audiometry was performed to compare the accuracy of the self report. A total of 111 patients were recruited. The prevalence of self reported hearing loss using a single question and pure tone audiometry was 24.3% and 36.9% respectively. By using pure tone audiometry at a cut-off-level of 25 dBHL (decibels Hearing level), the single question yielded a sensitivity of 41.4% and specificity of 85.0%.The single question performed better at 40 dBHL pure tone audiometry with sensitivity of 55.0% and specificity of 82.0%. In conclusion, the prevalence of hearing loss in elderly was high and the single question self reported hearing loss performed satisfactorily with moderate hearing loss.
authors.forename: Ak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosdina
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leelavathi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaitun
authors.forename: Vkm
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azimah
authors.forename: Sh
authors.initials: Sh
authors.lastname: Majmin
authors.forename: Ka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mohd
keywords: Elderly; Malaysia; hearing impairment; hearing loss