Association between participation restriction due to hearing loss and self-perception of health, social support, and quality of life in elderly people: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To verify the association between participation restriction due to hearing loss and self-perception of health, social support, and quality of life in elderly people.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study with a quantitative data approach. A database with information collected in a medium-sized Brazilian municipality was used. The study was conducted with 235 elderly people registered in five Family Health Strategy Units. Sociodemographic and health information and the results of the following questionnaires were used: Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - Screening Version (HHIE-S), Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey, Subjective Health Assessment, and Short-Form 6-Dimension (SF-6D) Health and Quality of Life Index. Groups with and without participation restriction were compared according to sociodemographic, health, social support, and quality of life variables. A multivariate binary logistic regression method was employed to evaluate the associations between the independent variables and participation restriction.

Results: The group with participation restriction is composed of older individuals with lower quality of life and poorer self-perception of health. Poorer self-perception of health was the only predictor of participation restriction related to hearing loss.

Conclusion: Participation restriction is associated with poorer self-perception of health. The study highlights the importance of assessing individuals' self-perception regarding biopsychosocial issues, in addition to considering the environmental context to understand the social and emotional impacts caused by hearing loss.