Measuring Social and Emotional Well-Being in Adults with Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review of Self-Report Questionnaires

Background/Objectives: Hearing loss is associated with negative social and emotional well-being through related factors such as social isolation and negative affect; therefore, accurate and reliable measurement of social and emotional well-being is essential to inform clinical practice and intervention evaluation. It is unclear which self-report questionnaires have been used to measure the social and emotional well-being of adults with hearing loss. The objective of this scoping review was to systematically identify and summarise characteristics and frequency of use of questionnaires used for assessing the social and/or emotional well-being of adults (18+ years old) with non-condition-specific hearing loss. Methods: This review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was performed in the Cochrane library, EMBASE, Medline and Web of Science databases. A comprehensive review of studies using instruments to measure social and/or emotional well-being in adults with hearing loss was conducted, with a particular emphasis on excluding those focusing solely on comorbid conditions such as tinnitus. Results: Electronic database searches yielded 3674 unique records plus six from citation searching, which were screened by title, abstract and full text. Of 210 instruments evaluated for eligibility, 63 questionnaires met inclusion criteria. Findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in scale content despite apparent similarity, limiting comparability across studies and potentially influencing the interpretation of study results. Conclusions: The catalogue of measures developed through this review may support more informed instrument selection. Because the measures assess varied constructs, researchers should choose instruments that fit their intended construct and population, considering the available psychometric evidence. Clinical practice could use this catalogue as a reference point when implementing measures beyond core outcome sets as part of patient- and family-centred care. Future research should clarify key domains, assess how well existing measures capture them, and develop new scales to address demonstrated gaps.