The Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults: psychometric adequacy and audiometric correlates

Abstract

The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE) was modified for use with younger hearing-impaired adults (less than 65 years of age). Similar to the HHIE, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA), is a 25-item self-assessment scale composed of two subscales (emotional and social/situational). Replacement questions from the HHIE which form the HHIA focus on the occupational effects of hearing loss. For 67 hearing-impaired adults, the HHIA demonstrated high internal consistency reliability and a low standard error of measurement. Audiometric correlates of the HHIA revealed weak, yet statistically significant relationships with pure-tone sensitivity and supra-threshold word recognition ability. These findings support the use of self-report handicap measures with adults in that audiometric measures alone are insufficient in describing a patient's reaction to their hearing loss.