Psychological and social aspects of the evaluation of acquired hearing impairment.

From the literature, it is clear that handicap secondary to acquired hearing impairment has received limited research attention, and that the available studies are limited both in their choice of subjects, and in the adequacy of their audiological information. However, despite obvious deviations of these samples from what is known of the incidence and distribution of acquired hearing impairment, the generalisations of the investigators have in most instances been continued without comment or reservation by those citing their results. The implications of this limited viewpoint are discussed.