Hearing impairment, working life conditions, and gender

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine differences and similarities in working conditions and health status between men and women with hearing impairments. This article is based on a material collected with a comprehensive questionnaire, looking at psycho-social work environments and health status and answered by a total of 406 patients at two audiological clinics in Sweden. Examination of the data reveals a pattern of unfavourable conditions for hearing-impaired persons/employees when compared to a reference group without auditory impairments. Hearing-impaired women frequently find themselves in extremely trying situations. Health status is worse for those who are hearing impaired as compared to the reference group, especially for hearing impaired women The concept “double workload”; is discussed as a possible notion for further theoretical development of the issues discussed in this article. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.