Possibilities of using a standardized questionnaire to detect hearing loss
Authors:
M. Kovalová 1; M. Škerková 1; T. Rychlý 1; H. Tomášková 1; R. Maďar 1; N. Gottfriedová 1; J. Mynář 1,3; E. Mrázková 1,2,3
Authors‘ workplace:
Ostravská univerzita, Ostrava, Lékařská fakulta, Ústav epidemiologie a ochrany veřejného zdraví, Vedoucí: doc. MUDr. Rastislav Maďar, PhD., MBA, FRCPS
1; Nemocnice Havířov, Oddělení ORL a chirurgie hlavy a krku, Primářka: MUDr. Eva Mrázková, Ph. D.
2; Centrum pro poruchy sluchu a rovnováhy, Ostrava, Vedoucí: MUDr. Eva Mrázková, Ph. D.
3
Published in:
Prakt. Lék. 2022; 102(6): 302-310
Category:
Of different specialties
Overview
Introduction: Hearing loss is the 3rd most common chronic disease in the elderly and is one of the most common causes of cognitive decline in older age. The aim was to find out whether the shortened version of the standardized questionnaire Hearing Handicap Inventory (HHI-S) is able to detect hearing problems in adults in a general practitioner’s office.
Methods: All probands underwent extended high-frequency audiometry and fillet out a questionnaire (a shortened version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory (HHI-S)). To determine the ability of the questionnaire to detect hearing handicap, the probands were divided into persons with an average hearing loss in the better hearing ear in individual frequency groups up to 25dB (normal hearing) and greater than 25dB (hearing loss). It were created 4 frequency groups (0.5–4 kHz, 6–8 kHz, 9–12.5 kHz and 14–16 kHz).
Results: It was examined 240 men (47.7%) and 263 women (52.3%) aged 18–64 years, who were not monitored in an otorhinolaryngologist’s office for hearing loss. The file was divided into 2 groups by age: from 18 to 39 years (244 people) and over 40 years (259 people). The highest average score in the questionnaire was achieved by persons in both age groups at the lowest evaluated frequencies (0.5–4 kHz). People under 40 scored an average of 8 points and over 40 scored 9 points. Younger subjects were found to have a better mean score compared to older subjects, both in normal hearing and hearing impaired subjects (p < 0.001). The average number of points from the HHI-S questionnaire in normal hearing does not increase with higher frequencies, but remains almost identical. However, the average score decreases with increasing frequencies by people with hearing loss.
Conclusion: Early detection of hearing loss will significantly improve the quality of life and reduce the risk of cognitive function loss. The HHI-S questionnaire appears in the general practitioner’s office as one of the quick, cheap and simple tools to detect hearing impairment, especially in people with undiagnosed hearing loss. However, in younger people with normal hearing but with the presence of risk factors, the questionnaire does not have such a high sensitivity, so it would be advisable to consider an audiometric examination to detect beginning hearing loss.
Keywords:
hearing loss – high-frequency audiometry – HHI-S
Sources
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