Self-assessment of Hearing Disabilities and Handicaps using Japanese Version of the Hearing Disability and Handicap Scale (HDHS)
Analysis of 85 workers with noise-induced hearing loss
1997 Volume 40 Issue 1 Pages 64-71
Details
1997 Volume 40 Issue 1 Pages 64-71
The aims of the present study is to confirm the reliability and the validity of the Japanese version of the Hearing Disability and Handicap Scale (HDHS) translated by the authors, and to investigate the availability of HDHS. The questionnaire was completed by 85 workers with a compensable noise-induced hearing loss. Scores of three subscales regarding the hearing disability and handicap increased with the elevation of averaged hearing levels in each subject. Chronbach's alpha coefficients for three subscales ranged from 0.84 to 0.93, which were at a stasisfying level. Factor analysis suggested that 20 items were categorized into 4 factors, F1: handicaps, F2: enjoying TV and radio, F3: detecting signal and F4: communication in daily life. It was considered that the Japanese version of HDHS can be an effective tool to assess the nature and magnitude of communication disorders in relation to the QOL in workers with noise-induced hearing loss.
