Does the Phenomenology of Auditory Hallucinations Differ Across Patients Having Severe Mental Illness With and Without Hearing Impairment?

We compared the experience of auditory hallucinations, in persons who have normal (HN; N = 20), or impaired hearing (HI; N = 20), while experiencing psychoses. We assessed this experience across 42 domains and observed that irrespective of the hearing status, patients most often heard voices mainly in the language that they had learnt first ( χ 2 = 5.584; P = .018)....

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Audiologists should be aware that hearing impairment may influence the character of auditory hallucinations in patients with severe mental illness, supporting the case for routine hearing screening in psychiatric settings, though this small study is not sufficient to change practice on its own.

The relationship between peripheral hearing loss and auditory hallucinations remains poorly understood; this study adds early evidence that may eventually support integrated audiological assessment in psychiatric care.

1. 01Study compared the nature of auditory hallucinations in 40 patients with severe mental illness, split by hearing status.
2. 02Examines whether hearing impairment changes how hallucinations are experienced (e.g., loudness, content, frequency).
3. 03Small sample size (N=40) limits generalizability of findings.
4. 04Highlights an interface between audiology and psychiatry that is clinically underappreciated.
5. 05Published in Schizophrenia Bulletin Open.

PMID

42936648

DOI

10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab001.

Journal

Schizophrenia Bulletin Open

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

3

Sample size

40

Population

Adults with severe mental illness, with and without hearing impairment, during psychotic episodes

Intervention

Presence of hearing impairment

Comparator

Patients with severe mental illness and normal hearing