Metric study on the social risk and QOL of hearing impaired

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K01543
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07050:Public economics and labor economics-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto Women's University (2023); Yokohama City University (2021-2022)
• Principal Investigator: Yasukawa Fumiaki 京都女子大学, データサイエンス学部, 教授 (90301845)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 難聴 / リスク認知 / QOL / 社会的リスク

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we investigated the extent and background of the social risks faced by people with hearing loss, and the extent to which people, including those with normal hearing, are committed to the policy interventions necessary to reduce them. The purpose was to clarify this through a questionnaire survey considering reality of hearing impaired who are received supportive services from hearing loss support center. Survey results show that many people with hearing loss have a strong tendency to not want others to know about their hearing loss, and as a result, communication with others becomes weak and they are more likely to fall into a state of depression. confirmed. In addition, it was quantitatively revealed that people felt a great deal of anxiety about the difficulty in hearing sounds related to social life, such as station announcements, car horns, calls at hospitals, the content of meetings, and construction site sounds.

Free Research Field

医療経済学、リスク学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、通常医学や福祉で議論されている難聴者の直面する課題を、社会的リスクとその背景要因という視点で再構成し、単に難聴レベルの高さだけでなく、就労状況や家族の状況、自身のメンタル的課題との関わり等の個人属性をふまえて詳細に検討したものであり、その成果は、難聴者の持つ課題を難聴者自身の立場からも、政策的立場からも、また健聴者(支援者)の立場からもより立体的に把握することに貢献するものと考える。たとえば外出時の様々な音の洪水のなかで、その状況や性質によって若年期に難聴になった人とそうでない人、あるいは高齢者とそれ以外の人で、リスクとしてのとらえ方に差があることが明らかにできた。