Age effects on measures of hearing disability.

This study investigated the effects of age on self-perceived hearing disability among young and elderly people with comparable hearing sensitivity. Subjects were young (18-40 yr) and elderly (65-75 yr) listeners with either normal hearing sensitivity or mild-to-moderate sloping sensorineural hearing loss. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly was presented to the older subjects and the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults was presented to the younger subjects. Statistical analyses revealed an interaction between age and hearing loss, in which younger subjects with hearing loss reported more handicapping effects of sensitivity loss than the elderly subjects with hearing loss. This age effect was not attributed to differences in hearing sensitivity between the young and elderly subjects with hearing impairment.