Psychosocial aspects of acquired hearing impairment in the patients with otosclerosis

Abstract

Currently available evidence reveals comparatively few studies of the psychological and social effects of acquired hearing impairment, in spite of the fact that clinicians have for a long time been aware of a connection between acquired hearing impairment and mental disorders. The existing data indicate that psychological disorders are significantly more frequent in a population with hearing impairment than in the average population and are accompanied by disharmony in interpersonal and social relations.

Aim: Establishing the presence and the type of mental disorders in patients with hearing impairment due to otosclerosis, before and 6 months after corrective surgery, as well as finding the role of adaptation style (personal adjustment) and facing strategy (communication strategies) as mediating variables between the acquired hearing impairment and observed psychical changes.

Methodology: in 60 subjects, potential candidates for stapedectomy, MMPI-201 has been applied before and after surgery, in order to evaluate the mental state. For assessments of personal adjustment to the impairment and communication strategies, a communication personal profile has been applied preoperatively.

Results: more psychiatric disorders are present in the preoperative group compared to the general population and the postoperative group. These disorders are of exclusively a neurotic nature; the most frequent are depressive, anxious depressive and anxious reactions. A connection was found between adaptation style and facing strategies whether in the presence or absence of psychological disorders.

Conclusion: the findings indicate a need for professional psychiatric-psychological support as a part of a rehabilitation program designed to reduce psychological difficulties, i.e. to help individuals to become adapted to the acoustic environment and to prevent or at least minimize the negative consequences of hearing impairment by efficient communication strategies.