Hearing impairment and quality of life for the elderly in nursing homes

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study is to find out the effects of hearing impairment on the QOL of nursing home residents. Methods: We constructed the self-assessment questionnaire designed for evaluating the QOL for the elderly in nursing homes. The questionnaire is constructed of physical, social, communicational and psychological states. It was administered to 60 subjects >65 years of age (mean age: 79 years) living in nursing homes, with hearing threshold levels in the better ear ranging from normal to severe and their response were analyzed. Results: Chronbach's α-values of the questionnaire obtained ranged from 0.66 to 0.91 and was 0.84 overall. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire as well as its brevity, simplicity, ease of administration and interpretation, all satisfied its use in assessing the QOL of the elderly in nursing homes. It tended to decrease the points of communication scale, sociability scale and psychological scale (PGC Morale Scale) accordingly to elevate the threshold. As for subscales of communication, hearing disability was correlated statistically to the sociability and psychological. Conclusion: Our questionnaire is regarded as a useful tool for evaluating the QOL of the elderly. Hearing loss affects the communication, sociability and psychological aspect of the QOL for the elderly in the nursing homes.