Self-perceived Hearing Problems of Frail Elderly People and their Relation to Hearing Threshold Level and Speech Recognition Threshold

Abstract

Objective: This study was undertaken in a rural area to examine the respective relations between self-perceived hearing problems of frail elderly people and hearing threshold levels (HTL) and speech recognition thresholds (SRT).
Method: We administered a questionnaire survey assessing self-perceived hearing problems among 35 frail elderly people of a rural area, and conducted tests for HTL and SRT.
Results: The following results were obtained.
1. Average values of HTL were 28.0±15.4.9dB for the better ear and 37.4±21.2dB for the worse ear.
2. Average values of HTL in the better ear and in the worse ear from reports of self-perceived hearing problem were significantly different between "Have hearing problems" and "Occasionally have hearing problems." However, no significant difference was found between "Have no hearing problems" and "Occasionally have hearing problems".
3. Examination results by self-perceived hearing problems revealed correlation coefficients between HTL and SRT in the better ear and in the worse ear: r = .718 - .975 (p < .01) for the better ear and r = .648 (p < .05) - .745 (p < .01) for the worse ear.
4. Results indicate that analyzing HTL in the worse ear and in the better ear might increase the validity of self-perceived hearing problems in elderly people.
Conclusion: When using self-reported hearing difficulties to identify hearing loss in the frail elderly in a region, results suggest the necessity of gathering information about both ears, including left-ear and right-ear hearing differences.