TY - JOUR
T1 - Unmet hearing health care needs
T2 - The beaver dam offspring study
AU - Nash, Scott D.
AU - Cruickshanks, Karen J.
AU - Huang, Guan-Hua
AU - Klein, Barbara E.K.
AU - Klein, Ronald
AU - Nieto, F. Javier
AU - Tweed, Theodore S.
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Objectives. We evaluated the use of hearing health care services (hearing testing and hearing aids) by adults aged 21 to 84 years. Methods. Hearing was tested and medical and hearing health histories were obtained as part of the Beaver Dam Offspring Study between 2005 and 2008 (n = 3285, mean age = 49 years). Results. Of the cohort, 34% (55% of participants aged 70 years) had a hearing test in the past 5 years. In multivariate modeling, older age, male gender, occupation, occupational noise, and having talked with a doctor about a hearing problem were independently associated with having had a hearing test in the past 5 years. Hearing aid use was low among participants with a moderate to severe hearing impairment (22.5%) and among participants with a hearing handicap (8.6%), as determined by the Hearing Handicap Inventory. Conclusions. Data support the need for improvement in hearing health care. Hearing aids' effectiveness is limited if patients do not acquire them or do not use them once acquired. Future research should focus on developing effective strategies for moving patients from diagnosis to treatment.
AB - Objectives. We evaluated the use of hearing health care services (hearing testing and hearing aids) by adults aged 21 to 84 years. Methods. Hearing was tested and medical and hearing health histories were obtained as part of the Beaver Dam Offspring Study between 2005 and 2008 (n = 3285, mean age = 49 years). Results. Of the cohort, 34% (55% of participants aged 70 years) had a hearing test in the past 5 years. In multivariate modeling, older age, male gender, occupation, occupational noise, and having talked with a doctor about a hearing problem were independently associated with having had a hearing test in the past 5 years. Hearing aid use was low among participants with a moderate to severe hearing impairment (22.5%) and among participants with a hearing handicap (8.6%), as determined by the Hearing Handicap Inventory. Conclusions. Data support the need for improvement in hearing health care. Hearing aids' effectiveness is limited if patients do not acquire them or do not use them once acquired. Future research should focus on developing effective strategies for moving patients from diagnosis to treatment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878099283&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301031
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301031
M3 - Article
C2 - 23597370
AN - SCOPUS:84878099283
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 103
SP - 1134
EP - 1139
JO - American Journal of Public Health
JF - American Journal of Public Health
IS - 6
ER -