Working Paper No.3 Add.5

11 November 2005

STATISTICAL COMMISSION and STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THEUN ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPEAN COMMUNITIESEUROPE (EUROSTAT)

 CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN WORLD HEALTHSTATISTICIANS ORGANIZATION (WHO)

Joint UNECE/WHO/Eurostat Meetingon the Measurement of Health Status (Budapest, Hungary, 14-16 November 2005)

 Session 3 – Invited paper

Hearing

Jennifer MadansNational Center for Health Statistics, U.S.A

Hearing

Concept: Ability to distinguish sounds Related but not equivalent to understanding and

communicating Hearing ability/loss can vary by –

The loudness of the sound The pitch of the sound The level and nature of background noise Availability of visual cues

Specification of activity within the domain: Attempt to standardize stimuli by specifying the above

dimensions either directly or indirectly

Proposed Items for Measuring Hearing

One option is to use the questions from the European Health Status Module: Can you distinctly hear what is said in a conversation

with several people without a hearing aid or other aids for hearing? Yes/No

If no: Can you distinctly hear what is said in a conversation with several people with a hearing aid? Yes/No/Has no hearing aids

If yes: skip next question Can you distinctly hear what is said in a conversation

with one person without a hearing aid? Yes/No If no: Can you distinctly hear what is said in a

conversation with one person with a hearing aid? Yes/No/Has no hearing aids

Hearing: Characteristics of Proposal Questions

Filter Question: Not used

Assistive Devices: Functioning ability obtained with and without hearing

aids if used Recall period/chronicity

Not specified Response categories:

Yes/No Severity:

Measured through ‘task’ – ability to hear in a conversation with several people vs. one person

Alternative Question Set Questions about hearing aid use (Without a hearing aid) Can….usually hear what a person says

without seeing his face if he whispers to….from across a quiet room?

(Without a hearing aid) Can….usually hear what a person says without seeing his face if he talks in a normal voice to….from across a quiet room?

(Without a hearing aid) Can….usually hear what a person says without seeing his face if he shouts to….from across a quiet room?

(Without a hearing aid) Can….usually hear what a person says if he speaks loudly into……’s better ear?

(Without a hearing aid) Can …..usually tell the sound of speech from other sounds and noises?

(Without a hearing aid) Can….usually tell one kind of noise from another?

(Without a hearing aid) Can….hear loud noise?