Health-related quality of life of the persons with prelingual hearing loss in early adulthood

Abstract

The paper presents research on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young adults diagnosed with various degrees of prelingual hearing loss. HRQoL was measured using the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-8d) questionnaire that allows assessment of the overall health-related quality of life and the dimensions such as independence, senses, pain, mental health, happiness, coping, (social) relations, and self-esteem. The study included 27 persons with hearing loss. Most of them were persons with moderate hearing loss using conventional hearing aids. The control group also included persons with normal hearing matched in age and sex. We found that the overall HRQoL in the studied group with prelingual hearing loss was significantly lower than in the hearing group. It was also lower in the dimensions of independence, pain, and senses (physical sphere) and relations (psychosocial sphere). In psychosocial sphere in the dimensions such as mental health, coping, and self-esteem, the hearing-impaired group obtained lower scores than the hearing group at the level of statistical tendency. Moreover, higher education was related to the higher HRQoL in the physical sphere in general, including in the dimension of independence, but only in the group with hearing loss.Our results indicate that people with prelingual hearing loss require psychological support especially in interpersonal relationships self-esteem, and mental health, as well as hearing and speech rehabilitation to improve their auditory communication with the environment. Further research is required for the greater intensity and frequency of pain experienced in the study group of people with prelingual hearing loss compared to the hearing group.