Development of a handy scale for the auditory functional evaluation of the elderly clients and its application in the identification of effective verbal communication method

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26463467
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Gerontological nursing
• Research Institution: Nihon institute of Medical Science
• Principal Investigator: Keiko Morita 日本医療科学大学, 保健医療学部, 教授 (60369345)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 伊藤 直子 日本医療科学大学, 保健医療学部, 准教授 (10448623) ; 長田 久雄 桜美林大学, 自然科学系, 教授 (60150877) ; 白戸 亮吉 日本医療科学大学, 保健医療学部, 助教 (20796099) ; 滝沢 隆 日本医療科学大学, 保健医療学部, 助教 (60787878)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SANO Tomoko 城西国際大学, 福祉総合学部, 准教授 (50348455)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 加齢性難聴 / 高齢者 / 入院患者 / 看護師 / コミュニケ―ション / 簡易聴覚機能評価

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Interviews were conducted with a sample of inpatients above the age of 65, who were categorized into normal-hearing and hearing-loss groups. Using KJ method, the interpretation of the interview findings were deepened to explore the hidden meaning. Discussions were made regarding the nurse-patient communication expected from the hearing-impaired group by comparison with that expected from the normal-hearing group. The clients in the group with a moderate-degree hearing loss expected “sensitive cares from the patients’ perspectives,” indicating the necessity of care provision in accordance with the hearing capability of individual clients. The findings indicated that the moderate-degree hearing loss group (40 dB or above) failed to catch either 5-cm /30-cm finger rubbings or 30-cm finger tapping with a significant difference. Both finger-rub and finger-tap tests were found to be effective as screening tests for the evaluation of the hearing functions of the elderly clients.

Free Research Field

高齢者看護