As people move through the activities of daily living at home, at work, and in social or business situations, basic auditory abilities take on functional significance. Audition makes it possible to detect and recognize meaningful environmental sounds, to identify the source and location of a sound, and, most importantly, to perceive and understand spoken language.

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The ability of an individual to carry out auditory tasks in the real world is influenced not only by his or her hearing abilities, but also by a multitude of situational factors, such as background noise, competing signals, room acoustics, and familiarity with the situation. Such factors are important regardless of whether one has a hearing loss, but the effects are magnified when hearing is impaired.

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For example, when an individual with normal hearing engages in conversation in a quiet, well-lit setting, visual information from the speaker's face, along with situational cues and linguistic context, can make communication quite effortless. In contrast, in a noisy environment, with poor lighting and limited visual cues, it may be much more difficult to carry on a conversation or to give and receive information. A person with hearing loss may be able to function very well in the former situation but may not be able to communicate at all in the latter.

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In this chapter we examine what is known about the impact of hearing loss on adults as they function in daily life; the impact of hearing loss in the workplace; the effectiveness of sensory aids, prosthetic devices, and assistive devices; and the implications and challenges for disability determination.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207836/