증폭장치 사용 난청 청년의 삶의 질

Quality of Life in Hearing Impaired Youth with Amplification System

배경 및 목적: 청력손실은 증폭장치로 보상할 수 있으며, 청력손실을 효과적으로 보상하면 난청자(person with hearing impaired, HI) 의 삶의 질(quality of life, QOL)도 개선할 수 있다. 이를 위해서는 증폭기를 사용하고 있는 난청자(HI)들의 QOL을 분석할 필요가 있다. 이 연구는 난청 청년(HI_youth)의 QOL을 알아보는 데 있다. 방법: 참가자는 SNS 서비스를 통해 무작위로 선정된 20세부터 29세 사이의 성인으로 하였다. 이들은 청력손실이 없는 46명과 보청기나 인공와우를 사용하고 있는 19명의 두 군으로 구분하였다. 설문은 World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF)을 사용하였다. 응답은 신뢰도를 분석하였고(Cronbach’s α=.923), 두 군 사이 관계는 일원분산 분석하였다. 결과: 두 군 사이에는 신체적 범주에서 유의한 차이가 관찰되었다(p < .05). 하위 항목에서 ‘청력손실이 일을 방해 한다’ (p =.000), ‘보청기가 필요하다’ (p =.000) (이상 신체적 범주), ‘삶이 충분히 의미 있다’ (p =.013) (이상 심리적 범주), ‘안전한 삶’ (p =.012), ‘정보 접근성’ (p =.010), ‘지역 의료서비스 만족도’ (p =.017) (이상 환경 조건) 등이 유의하였 다. 논의 및 결론: 난청 청년들은 증폭장치 사용, 안전한 삶, 정보 및 의료서비스 접근, 삶의 의미 부분에서 다소 만족스럽지 못한 평가를 내렸다.

Objectives: It is possible to compensate for hearing loss with an amplification system. When the hearing loss is compensated for effectively, the quality of life (QOL) of a person with a hearing impairment can be improved. In the interest of this improvement, it is necessary to analyze the QOL of hearing impaired (HI) individuals who are using an amplifier. This study aims to examine the QOL of HI-youth. Methods: The participants were adult males and females, aged 20- to 29-year-old who were randomly selected through a social network service (SNS). They were classified into two groups: 19 participants who were using a hearing aid and/or cochlear implant, and 46 participants who had no hearing loss. The questionnaire that was used was the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Response reliability was analyzed with Cronbach’s α (= .923), response scores were analyzed with descriptive statistics, and a one-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the relationship between two groups. Results: When the two groups were compared, there was a significant difference in the average response scores regarding physical health according to category of the participants (p < .05). Significant differences were also observed in the sub-domains, including ‘hearing loss disturbs mywork’ (p = .000), ‘the hearing aid is needed’ (p = .000) (physical domain), ‘life is sufficiently meaningful’ (p = .013) (psychological domain), ‘life security’ (p = .012), ‘information accessibility’ (p = .010), ‘satisfaction with local health care service’ (p = .017) (environment domain), etc. Conclusion: The responses of HI-youth indicated dissatisfaction in respect to using the amplifier, safety of life, accessibility to information and health care service, and the meaningfulness of life.