Group rehabilitation of middle-aged males with noise-induced hearing loss and their spouses: evaluation of short- and long-term effects.

This study aims at evaluating the short- and long-term effects of a group rehabilitation programme, designed for males with noise-induced hearing loss and their spouses. The rehabilitation programme, including four 3 h group sessions per week, intended to offer adequate information, psychosocial support and training in effective coping strategies. Fifty-three males were consecutively selected and randomly divided into an experimental and a control group. Twenty-seven males were invited to participate in the group sessions together with their spouses. Although an informed consent to participate was given by the males initially, 15 couples (55.6%) refused to participate, and 12 couples agreed to participate in the group sessions. The short-term effects of the programme showed that the couples felt supported by meeting other couples in the same position. Further, the spouses' awareness of the effects of the hearing impairment was increased, which facilitated the understanding of problems related to their husbands' hearing disability. A reduction in perceived handicap, measured by the handicap sections of the Hearing Measurement Scale (P = 0.017) and by the disability/handicap factor of the Hearing Handicap and Support scale (P = 0.054), was found immediately after the rehabilitation programme in the participants compared to the controls. Four months later, no significant difference in any of the variables measured was found. Interestingly, both from a short-term and a long-term perspective, the drop-outs from the experimental group (n = 15) scored significantly higher on perceived handicap (P = 0.034 and P = 0.031, respectively) compared to the participants in the group rehabilitation programme.