Department of Psychology & Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.
Trends Hear. 2024 Jan-Dec;28:23312165241236041. doi: 10.1177/23312165241236041.
Many older adults live with some form of hearing loss and have difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background sound. Experiences resulting from such difficulties include increased listening effort and fatigue. Social interactions may become less appealing in the context of such experiences, and age-related hearing loss is associated with an increased risk of social isolation and associated negative psychosocial health outcomes. However, the precise relationship between age-related hearing loss and social isolation is not well described. Here, we review the literature and synthesize existing work from different domains to propose a framework with three conceptual anchor stages to describe the relation between hearing loss and social isolation: within-situation disengagement from listening, social withdrawal, and social isolation. We describe the distinct characteristics of each stage and suggest potential interventions to mitigate negative impacts of hearing loss on social lives and health. We close by outlining potential implications for researchers and clinicians.
许多老年人存在某种形式的听力损失，在背景噪音中难以理解言语。由此产生的体验包括增加听力努力和疲劳。在这种情况下，社交互动可能变得不那么吸引人，与年龄相关的听力损失与社交孤立的风险增加以及相关的负面心理社会健康结果有关。然而，与年龄相关的听力损失和社交孤立之间的确切关系尚不清楚。在这里，我们回顾了文献，并综合了来自不同领域的现有工作，提出了一个框架，其中包含三个概念锚定阶段，以描述听力损失和社交孤立之间的关系：情境内脱离听力、社交退缩和社交孤立。我们描述了每个阶段的独特特征，并提出了潜在的干预措施，以减轻听力损失对社交生活和健康的负面影响。最后，我们概述了对研究人员和临床医生的潜在影响。
