Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the relationship between the perception of self-reported hearing impairment and the handicap with peripheral and central hearing alterations, in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Methods: individuals with Parkinson's disease were seen and evaluated at a reference outpatient clinic for the treatment of movement disorders, between April and August 2015. All of them underwent basic audiological evaluation and hearing processing tests. The hearing handicap assessment was performed using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly. As for the analysis of the relationship between hearing handicap perception and audiological, clinical and demographic variables, individuals were considered with or without perception, according to their score. Results: thirty-three individuals, mostly males, with a mean age of 63.7 years, took part in the study. There was a high frequency (n = 31) of peripheral or central hearing alterations in the study population. However, only 14 reported some difficulty in hearing, eight not presenting hearing handicap perception, two having mild-moderate perception and four showing a significant perception. Conclusion: the perceptions of hearing difficulties and the handicap are not related to audiological alterations in individuals presented with Parkinson's disease.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) associated with aging and characterized by the presence of resting tremors, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability[1,2]
The average disease duration was 9.2 years with most individuals belonging to PD stage II (n=15), followed by stage I (n=10), stage III (n=7), and stage IV (n=1)
Our results revealed that despite the large number of PD patients with audiological alterations, most of them did not report hearing difficulties
Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) associated with aging and characterized by the presence of resting tremors, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability[1,2]. In addition to motor disturbances, PD patients may have several non-motor symptoms including depression, memory cognition, and speech alterations, which can interfere with their ability to communicate with others[5,6]. Hearing loss is the second most common dysfunction reported among the elderly according to the World Health Organization[8]. It affects approximately 1/3 of people over the age of 65 years. Age-related degeneration of the auditory system can reduce hearing acuity making it harder to perceive sounds, especially in the presence of competitive noise, which can interfere with communication and social activities[9,10]
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