A Study on Sensory Limitations Among Elderly in the Selected Oldage Homes of Hyderabad city

Sensory impairments are common among elderly, particularly the vision and hearing limitations. Vision impairment is a condition, where a visually impaired person's eyesight cannot be corrected to a “normal level”. Visual impairment is the functional limitation of the eye/ eyes. Hearing impairment is a partial or total inability to hear and can be temporary or permanent. The total samples for the study were 120 elderly, drawn from 10 oldage homes (two from each zone), from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secundrabad. The information on sensory limitation among the elderly was collected, using the Hearing Handicap Inventory Screening Questionnaire, for Adults (Elderly) and Lighthouse International Functional Vision Screening Questionnaire (Elderly), through a personal interview technique. The results of the study revealed that, majority of the respondents (65%) were moderately hearing handicapped, 33 per cent of them did not have hearing limitations and 3 % are significantly hearing handicapped, while majority (72%) of the respondents had severe vision problem because of cataract, glaucoma and aging. Only 28 per cent respondents have potential vision problems.