| Abstrakt: |
This study aimed to assess categories underlying subjective hearing loss (SHL) in older adults using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability (ICF) and Health-Brief Core Set for Hearing Loss (ICF-BCS-HL). A cross-sectional study. One-hundred and thirty-one independent-living older adults (Mage = 72.32, SD = 6.83), who completed the speech, spatial, and quality of hearing (SSQ) scale and a set of clinically accepted outcome measurements linked with selected categories listed in the ICF-BCS-HL. A linear regression analysis model was fitted with the outcome measurements after controlling for age, sex, education, multimorbidity, and hearing aid use. The model showed 5 significant predictors underlying the SSQ-total score: HL (ß = −.38, p ≤.001), dizziness handicap (ß = −.35, p ≤.001), cognitive decline (ß =.17, p <.05), multimorbidity (ß =.12, p <.005), and poor ability to accept the noise level (ß = −.16, p = p <.05). Predictors varied across the SSQ-subscales scores, however. A link of SHL with HL, cognitive deficits, poor ability to accept background noise level, and multimorbidity, collectively or individually, were well-established. So far, little attention has been paid to the impact of dizziness handicap of elderly patients when evaluating their SHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
