Objective: The International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) is a classification of health and health-related domains created by the World Health Organization and can be used as a standard to evaluate the health and disability of individuals. The ICF Core Set for Hearing Loss (CSHL) refers to the ICF categories found to be relative to Hearing Loss (HL) and the consequences of it on daily life. This study aimed to adapt the content of a database gathered in Hörzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH that included HL medical assessments and audiological data to the ICF.
Design: ICF linking rules were applied to these assessment methods including medical interviews, ear examinations, pure-tone audiometry, Adaptive Categorical Loudness Scaling, and speech intelligibility test.
Study sample: 1316 subjects.
Results: In total, 44% of the brief and 18% of the comprehensive CSHL categories were addressed. The hearing functions were broadly evaluated. "Activities and Participation" and "Environmental Factors" were poorly examined (17% and 12% of the comprehensive CSHL categories, respectively).
Conclusions: The HL correlation with day-to-day activities limitation, performance restriction, and environmental conditions were poorly addressed. This study showed the essence of incorporating these methodologies with approaches that assess the daily-life challenges caused by HL in rehabilitation.
Keywords: ICF; audiological assessment methods; hearing loss; outcome measure.