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Abstract Elderly people have many medical problems. One of the top three chronic medical conditions is hearing impairment and it is considered thenumber one of communication disorder among older people in whom hearing could compensate for other physical or sensorial limitations. The projected increase in the Proportion of individuals aged at least 65 years worldwide is likely to be associated with an increasing prevalence of HI among the elderly. HI in elderly people remains an invisible disability that is hidden to others. Therefore, it tends to be ignored, unlike other health problems (Akeem, Taiwo and Oye, 2010; Vos et al., 2017; Wilson, Tucci, Merson & O’Donoghue, 2017).The aim of this study was to determine the quality of life of elderly people with hearing impairment. A descriptive Correlational study design was used to achieve the aim of the current study the study was conducted at Outpatient audiology clinics at Ashmoun General Hospital that affiliated to Ashmoun district and Shebin Elkom University Hospital at Shebin Elkom district, Menoufia governorat. A purposive sample of 270 elderly people who diagnosed with hearing impairment and attending the previously mentioned settings for diagnosis and follow up were selected, who were fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Instruments of the study: The instruments of the study were two instruments used to collect the data, about hearing impairment and quality of life among studied elderly people that included:Instrument I: Interviewing questionnaire which included two parts Part 1: The first part concerned with socioeconomic demographic data of the study subjects that developed by researcher. The required data in this part consisted of Personal history (name, age, sex, address, education, with whom do you live, marital status, income, occupation, helping from others, type of helping) and grade of hearing impairment which taken from patient’s medical sheet or audiometer. Part 2: The second part included older people quality of life questionnaire (OPQOL-35) SF that developed by Bowling& Gabriel, (2007). It used to assess quality of life of the elderly; which included eight domain of quality of life. This domain (life over all, health, social relationship, independence, control over life and freedom, home and neighborhood, psychological and emotional well-being, financial circumstances and leisure activities). The OPQOL consisted of 35 statements, That required the participants to indicate to what the extent to which he/she agrees with each statement by selecting one of five possible options (strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree and strongly agree, each with a score of 1–5). Higher scores indicate a better QOL. The total score ranges from 35 (worst possible QOL) to 175 (best possible QOL). Instrument II: The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening version (HHIE-S) scale developed by Ventry & Weinstein, (1986). It was used to assess the degree of hearing impairment and included 10-items questions. The main results of this study revealed that: - Approximately three quarters of studied elderly people were in age group 60 – 69 years, most of them were illiterate.The majority of elderly had significant hearing impairment and the least of them had mild to moderate hearing impairment according to their self- reported hearing impairment (HHIE-S). Hearing impairment grades among studied elderly subjects according to their audiometer. More than two thirds of studied elderly were suffering from severe to moderate hearing impairment and the least frequency was mild and profound hearing impairment. Relation between audiometry hearing impairment grades and self-reported hearing impairment grades; the current study concluded that the majority of studied elderly within the four grades either mild, moderate, sever or profound, perceived that they had significant hearing impairment. This result might indicate that once the elderly feel there is hearing impairment even if mild or moderate grades; his/her perception is that he/she has significant hearing impairment. There was a significant difference between elderly grades of hearing impairment measured by audiometer and HHIE-S. The current findings indicated that each domain of quality of life affected with severity of hearing impairment; as there were around half of studied elderly people perceived poor QOL in all domains, this domain included (life over all, social relation, independence, home and neighborhood, psychological and emotional wellbeing, financial circumstances, leisure and activity). There were negative correlation between HHIE-S total hearing impairment score and all quality of life domains. Moreover, there was negative correlation between HHIE-S total hearing impairment score and grand totalquality of life score. This means that quality of life gets poor with increased hearing impairment. The current study illustrated that more than half of studied elderly people perceived poor total quality of life based on their scores so research question has been answered. Conclusion:- In the light of the current study findings, the study concluded that: The quality of life of elderly with hearing impairment was affected or reduced with increase severity of HI. The most affected domain of quality of life was life over all followed by social relations because of HI can impair the exchange of information, thus it significantly impacting everyday life, causing loneliness, isolation, dependence, and frustration, as well as communication disorders. So that, HI consequently reported to reduce quality of life. Recommendations:- Increasing elderly people awareness about the importance of regular hearing assessment for early detection and management. Early hearing screening with high quality screening protocols in the primary care setting to determine people at risk of hearing impairment. |