Self-reported disability and handicap in individuals with noise-induced hearing loss

Abstract

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the cause of subjective problems that could be classified as auditory disability (AD) and auditory handicap (AH). The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the degree of hearing loss due to NIHL and AD-AH by means of an 11-item questionnaire. The study group consisted of 750 males affected by NIHL and 891 normally hearing males. Each subject was submitted to pure-tone audiometry (PTA) and to a questionnaire that explored AD and AH. Results showed that only 60% of NIHL subjects reported AD and 50% reported AH. The most common AD complaint was reduced speech comprehension in noise. Changes in social relations were rarely reported among the AH items. A correlation was found between both AD and AH and PTA threshold. The severity of AD seems more related to PTA threshold rather than to ag