Positive Social Interaction and Hearing Loss in Older Adults Living in Rural and Urban Communities

This study explored the extent to which hearing loss affected positive social interactions in older adults living in rural and urban communities.

Pure-tone behavioral hearing assessments were administered to 80 adults 60 years of age or older. In addition, all participants completed 2 questionnaires, the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-Ninth Edition (Kroenke, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001).

The preliminary findings suggested that adults with hearing loss living in rural towns had poorer positive social interactions compared with their urban counterparts with hearing loss. Also, adults with hearing loss living in rural towns had more symptoms of depression than adults with normal hearing who lived in these same geographical regions.

These preliminary findings could indicate that older adults with hearing loss living in rural communities will face more isolation than adults with hearing loss living in urban settings. Increasing our understanding of the extent of social isolation in adults with hearing loss living in rural and urban populations will be necessary.