Background: Hearing impairment has a significant physiological, psychological, and social impact on one’s life. The primary aim of this study was to explore which coping strategies are most frequently used by patients with a sudden hearing impairment within the period of just a few days after the first symptoms appear.
Participants and procedure: Sixty-four patients were asked to complete the coping inventory COPE between the first and the fifth day following the diagnosis of hearing loss.
Results: The start of hearing impairment acts as a trigger for the use of a problem-solving coping strategy. Social support from the family represents an important source of help for patients with sudden hearing loss. Humour as a coping strategy was found to be used as a means of easing the current unfavourable situation and concealing one´s emotions from others.
Conclusions: Active coping and seeking social support were the most frequently used coping strategies.
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