Demographic and audiological factors as predictors of hearing handicap

INTRODUCTION Currently available evidence reveals comparatively few studies of psychological effects of hearing impairments, in spite of the fact that clinicians have for a long time been aware of a connection between the acquired hearing impairment and mental disorders. They are focused on the investigation of dysfunction in general. Thus, three domains of the auditory imbalance may be distinguished: disorder, disability and handicap. 'Handicap', according to the definition of the World Health Organization, is a hindrance in an individual that results from an impairment or disability and represents psychological response of the individual to the impairment. OBJECTIVE Validation of acquired hearing impairment as a risk factor of psychical disorders as well as an analysis of relation of some demographic factors (sex, age, education) and audiological factors (degree and duration of the impairment) with the frequency of hearing handicap. METHOD MMPI-201 has been applied in 60 subjects affected with otosclerosis, potential candidates for stapedectomy, before and after the surgery. RESULTS Individuals with acquired hearing impairment manifest more frequent disorders of psychical functioning in comparison with general population, while demographic and audiometric parameters did not correlate with acquired hearing handicap. CONCLUSION It may be assumed that the very recognition of demographic and audio-logical factors can not help much in the understanding of the psychological stress associated with hearing impairment