The effects of intervention strategy on self-perception of hearing handicap.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether participation in a counseling-based aural rehabilitation program would result in greater reduction of self-perceived hearing handicap than hearing aid use alone. Thirty-one postlingually hearing-impaired adults were placed into three groups after audiological evaluation. The first group received hearing aids and participated in a counseling-based aural rehabilitation (AR) program. The second group received hearing aids only. The third group received neither hearing aids nor counseling-based AR. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly was administered to all subjects before audiological evaluation and again to all subjects 2 mo after receipt of hearing aids for the experimental groups. For both experimental groups, self-perception of hearing handicap was significantly reduced as a function of intervention when measured on any of the three Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly scales, whereas there was no change in self-perception of hearing handicap for the control group on any scale. In addition, there was weak but significant evidence that participating in the counseling-based AR program in addition to hearing aid use resulted in a greater reduction of self-perceived hearing handicap than did hearing aid use alone.