Association Between Hearing Handicap and Life-Space Mobility in a Patient Population.

Oliva, Allison; West, Jessica S.; Smith, Sherri L.; Huang, Ryan J.; Riska, Kristal M.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between self-reported hearing handicap and life-space mobility utilizing the Life-Space Questionnaire (LSQ). Life-space mobility reflects how an individual moves through their daily physical and social environment, and the role of hearing loss in life-space mobility is not fully understood. We hypothesized that those with higher self-reported hearing handicap would be more likely to demonstrate restricted life-space mobility. Method: A total of 189 older adults (Mage = 75.76 years, SD = 5.81) completed a mail-in survey packet including the LSQ and Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly (HHIE). Participants were categorized into one of three groups ("no/none," "mild/moderate," or "severe" hearing handicap) according to HHIE total score. LSQ responses were dichotomized to either "nonrestricted/typical" or "restricted" life-space mobility groups. Logistic regression models were performed to analyze life-space mobility differences among the groups. Results: Logistic regression results demonstrated no statistically significant association between hearing handicap and LSQ. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that there is no association between self-reported hearing handicap and life-space mobility as evaluated using a mail-in version of the LSQ. This counters other studies that have demonstrated that life space is associated with chronic illness, cognitive functioning, and social and health integration.

NORTH Carolina; CONFIDENCE intervals; SELF-evaluation; AUDIOLOGY; CROSS-sectional method; FUNCTIONAL status; SENSORINEURAL hearing loss; GERIATRIC assessment; T-test (Statistics); SOCIAL isolation; QUESTIONNAIRES; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; PEOPLE with disabilities; STATISTICAL sampling; LOGISTIC regression analysis; STATISTICAL models; ODDS ratio; DATA analysis software

American Journal of Audiology, 2023, Vol 32, p360

1059-0889

Academic Journal

10.1044/2023_AJA-22-00052