Vít Blanař*, Jan Mejzlík*, **, Veronika Škvarlová*
* University of Pardubice, Faculty of Health Studies
** Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery
BLANAŘ, V. – MEJZLÍK, J. – ŠKVARLOVÁ, V. Social and emotional problems of patients with a hearing loss caused by noise. In Ošetrovateľstvo: teória, výskum, vzdelávanie [online], 2014, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 87-92. Available on: https://www.osetrovatelstvo.eu/en/archive/2014-volume-4/number-2/social-and-emotional-problems-of-patients-with-a-hearing-loss-caused-by-noise.
Aim: Find out the connection between the hearing impairment and the emotional and social difficulties with hearing loss.
Sample: The sample includes 49 respondents with a mean age of 54.7 years. The research group contains patients with variable degree of hearing loss, which was caused by long term noise exposition. Respondents were examined in the course of the follow up outpatient department, where the workers with professional noise expositions are annually examined.
Methods: The Czech version of the questionnaire Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) was used for evaluation of problems with hearing which relate to everyday life of patients with hearing loss. The research was performed with patients who are working for a long time in noisy environment. They are followed up on Ear-Nose-Throat departments. Employees from noisy workplaces were chosen because there are quite a large number of them in our outpatient department, and at a time when they retired, they usually have a significant hearing loss, which further progresses due to presbyacusis. Nowadays, they are the most frequent users of hearing aids.
Results: Between hearing loss and social problems were found correlation r = 0.61795. Between hearing loss and emotional (psychological) problems were found correlation r = 0.56274.
Conclusion: An idea of social and psychological questions enables different point of view on hearing loss, than just mere instrument investigation of hearing threshold and statement diagnoses. Employees with slow progression of hearing loss in a noisy environment standing in front of a difficult problem, when on the one hand they need to feed themselves and their families and on the other hand, they would certainly like to keep good hearing in old age.
Keywords: hearing disorders, occupational hearing loss, HHIA, noise, hearing problems
Mgr. Vít Blanař
Fakulta zdravotnických studií UP
Průmyslová 395
532 10 Pardubice
Česká republika
e-mail: vit.blanar@upce.cz
Received: 31th March 2014
Accepted: 3rd November 2014