Background: Although hearing loss is one of the major handicaps in the elderly, many aging adults fail to recognize the deterioration of hearing and its effect in daily life. Moreover, many Thai elderly still cannot get a hearing evaluation and rehabilitation because of the limited number of audiologists. Therefore, Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly-Screening (HHIE-S) Thai version should be an effective screening tool for hearing problem in Thai elderly.

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the HHIE-S Thai version.

Materials and Methods: Diagnostic study was done in Thai people aged 60 years or older who visited King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. The questionnaires were completed by the participants themselves. Air-conduction pure-tone audiometry was done and pure-tone average threshold (PTA) at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz were calculated. Sensitivity and specificity of the HHIE-S Thai version was evaluated.

Results: Two-hundred twenty-two participants were included in the present study. Seventy percent were females and 30% were males, with a mean age of 69.24±7.21 years. For the detection of moderate or greater hearing loss (PTA of 40 dB or more), the HHIE-S Thai version with a cut-off point of 8 had a sensitivity of 69.7% (95% CI 51.1 to 83.8) and a specificity of 74.9% (95% CI 67.9 to 80.8).

Conclusion: The HHIE-S Thai version with cut-off point of 8 is considered to be a reliable and valid screening tool with good sensitivity and specificity to identify hearing handicap in Thai elderly.

Keywords: Hearing loss, Elderly, Hearing screening

Received 25 Dec 2018 | Revised 10 Jun 2019 | Accepted 12 Jun 2019