Increased risk of psychopathological abnormalities in subjects with unilateral hearing loss: A cross-sectional study

Objective Although unilateral hearing loss (UHL) has been proven to be associated with educational and behavioral problems, there are few studies on psychopathological abnormalities in this population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychopathological influence of UHL among Korean 19-year-old males. Methods The authors retrospectively compared the objective personality test profiles of 602 subjects with UHL with those of 23,790 normal hearing peers. All participants in the current study were 19-year-old males who underwent physical examination and investigated the Korean Military Multiphasic Personality Inventory for conscription at the Military Manpower Administration from February 2015 to December 2016. Results The neurosis scales revealed significantly higher scores in the UHL group as compared to the normal hearing group (50.9 ± 10.8 vs. 44.9 ± 6.0 for the anxiety; 51.0 ± 10.5 vs 44.9 ± 5.2 for the depression; 51.1 ± 10.4 vs 45.1 ± 6.81 for the somatization, all p < 0.001). The psychopathy scales were also significantly higher in the UHL group compared with the normal hearing group (49.3 ± 9.4 vs 46.3 ± 5.7 for the schizophrenia; 51.1 ± 11.2 vs 44.3 ± 5.8 for the personality disorder; 51.1 ± 10.5 vs 45.7 ± 3.7 for the paranoid, all p < 0.001). Conclusion 19-year-old males with UHL tended to have more abnormal results on the personality test compared to normal hearing controls, suggesting that UHL may be related to higher risk of psychopathology.