Psychological and somatic distress in relation to perceived hearing disability, hearing handicap, and hearing measurements

Abstract

Acquired hearing loss has frequently been reported to cause strains in everyday life, but few attempts have been reported where the affliction is related to the concept of stress. In this within-subjects investigation of 48 middle-aged to elderly hearing impaired patients, the relationships between hearing measurements, experienced disability and handicap (HMS), and psychological and somatic distress symptoms (SCL-90(R)) were analyzed. The variations in experienced hearing disability was found to correlate to the occurrence of a few, but more severe distress symptoms, and by loss of hearing for high frequencies. The experienced handicap, defined as emotional responses and personal opinions, was found to correlate to a general level of distress. In particular those distress items expressing insecurity were related to handicap experience. It was suggested that insecurity in social settings, and diminished hearing for contextual sounds, could cause a perceived loss of control, which could induce stress reactions.