This study indicates that the majority of individuals with hearing impairments (55.6%) in Japan experienced communication difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. The multivariable regression analysis revealed that individuals without caregivers, users of voice recognition software, those aged 40–64 years (compared to older adults), those with more severe hearing disabilities, and those with higher outing frequencies were more likely to experience interpersonal communication difficulties.
Several studies have reported difficulties in interpersonal communication faced by individuals with hearing impairments during the pandemic, and the findings of this study are consistent with that of those studies. Nonetheless, the majority of previous research was conducted within specific hospitals [7, 9] or confined to…