INTRODUCTION: The self-assessment questionnaires are useful to measure the emotional and social/transient consequences resulting from hearing loss, and they can be used in a wide range of situations in the clinical routine, such as auditory screening. OBJECTIVE: Check the sensitivity and specificities of HHIA-S and HHIE-S questionnaires to identify a hearing loss and their usages in auditory screenings, as well as analyze the ability of these questionnaires to detect different degrees of hearing impairments in the studied people. METHOD: Retrospective study with 51 individuals aged between 18 and 88, who filled out the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults Screening Version - HHIA-S and Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version - HHIE-S questionnaires at the waiting room of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS)'s otorhinolaryngology infirmary. RESULTS: The instruments showed a low sensitivity (47%), not identifying individuals with a hearing loss; however, they showed a high specificity (75%), accurately identifying individuals with no hearing disorder. Moreover, no significant association between the degree of hearing loss and the constraint degree for participation was found. CONCLUSION: the aforementioned questionnaires revealed a low sensitivity and a high specificity, proving to be ineffective for auditory screenings in a group with previous hearing complaints in addition to being unable to detect different types and degrees of hearing impairment.
questionnaires; sensitivity and specificity; hearing loss; aging
