Effect of social and self stigma on hearing aid rejection

Abstract: Hearing loss creates emotional and behavior imbalance thus leads toward stigma. The stigma, whether social or self, leaves a great impact on uptake of hearing aids. For a proper provision of hearing aids to the patients, it is necessary to deal with stigma. Objective: To determine the effect of social and self-stigma on hearing aid rejection. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 52 individuals. All were young adults with age range of 19-40 years. These all had moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss and were recommended with hearing aids. A self structured questionnaire with seven items was given to the participants. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 21.0 and presented through frequency and percentages and was collected from different cities of province Punjab, including Lahore, Qasoor, Pakpatan, Chishtian, Burewala, Lodhran, Okara, Multan and Bahawalnagar by using convenient sampling technique. Results: It was found that 70% of the participants rejected hearing aids due to social and self stigma. Conclusions: It was concluded from the study that social and self stigma causes fear for not using hearing aid. Key Words: Stigma, hearing aid, hearing impairment