Coping ability and everyday life situations in relation to audiological rehabilitation

The relationship between the reported use of coping strategies and experience of everyday life prior to audiological rehabilitation and the number of rehabilitation consultations needed, were studied in a group of adults. The study took place at St. Olav's University Hospital, Norway and included 132 adult patients (77 men and 55 women) with no previous audiological rehabilitation or experience with hearing aid (HA) use. Hearing impairment was assessed by pure tone audiometry, while use of communication specific coping strategies and daily life situations were obtained using self-report inventories. The latter concerned activity limitation, participation restriction, and psychological well-being. The patients' hospital records were reviewed approximately 18 months after their first consultation. In total, 41 patients (31%) needed no more than the required minimum number of three consultations to complete rehabilitation including HA fitting, while 91 patients needed more than this. Logistic regression was used to study coping and everyday life in relation to the need for three versus more consultations. Little experienced participation restriction was related to the need for only three consultations. Use of communication specific coping strategies, activity limitation, or psychological well-being was not associated with the number of consultations needed. © 2007 Taylor & Francis.