The impact of hearing loss and low vision
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of untreated hearing loss on quality of life for people with low vision
IRAS ID
151419
Contact name
Piers Dawes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Research summary
Age-related hearing loss is one of the most common chronic conditions among older adults. The prevalence of vision problems also increases with age, including macular degeneration, cataract and glaucoma. Hearing loss is therefore likely to co-occur with vision problems.
People with dual sensory impairments (both vision and hearing loss) are more likely to have reduced quality of life, higher risk of mortality, quicker functional decline, higher rates of depression and more difficulties with activities of daily living than people with single sensory impairments.
With hearing loss, people are able to use compensatory techniques such as lip reading to offset their hearing problems. But people with poor vision may not be able to make use of such compensatory techniques. Usually, mild levels of hearing loss are not considered clinically significant. But because of an inability to use compensatory techniques, even mild levels of hearing loss could have a substantial impact on quality of life for people with poor vision.
This research will investigate whether there is any significant association between untreated hearing loss and quality of life for people with low vision. Data will be collected from two groups – one group of people who have poor vision and another group of people who have normal or normal corrected vision.
Each participant will have their hearing tested and complete three questionnaires relating to quality of life, hearing and visual function. Correlations between hearing loss and questionnaire scores for each group will be compared to investigate whether people with low vision are more susceptible to reduced quality of life in the presence of untreated hearing loss than people with normal vision.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EE/1092
Date of REC Opinion
15 Aug 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion