Hearing loss impacts on the use of community and informal supports.
OBJECTIVE
the aim of this study is to estimate the cross-sectional and longitudinal impact of hearing loss on use of community support services and reliance on non-spouse family/friends among older people.


METHODS
Blue Mountains Hearing Study participants (n = 2,956) were assessed for hearing impairment by audiologists in sound-treated booths. Participants were classified as hearing impaired if PTA(0.5-4)( )(kHz) >25 dB HL. Use of services and non-spouse family/friend support was assessed cross-sectionally. Incident use was assessed among survivors at the 5-year follow-up (n = 1,457).


RESULTS
a significant cross-sectional association between hearing loss (>25 dB HL) and use of community support services was observed after adjusting for age, sex, living status, self-rated poor health, self-reported hospital admissions, disability in walking and best-corrected visual impairment [odds ratio (OR) 2.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-3.90]. Participants with hearing loss who never used a hearing aid were twice as likely to use formal supports as participants without hearing loss (multivariate-adjusted OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.19-4.24). Hearing loss increased the incident need for non-spouse family/friend support or community services (multivariate-adjusted OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.02-2.18).


CONCLUSIONS
after adjusting for confounding factors, hearing impairment negatively impacted on the independence of older persons by increasing reliance on community or family support.
Schneider
Julie
J
Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney, Australia.
Gopinath
Bamini
B
Karpa
Michael J
MJ
McMahon
Catherine M
CM
Rochtchina
Elena
E
Leeder
Stephen R
SR
Mitchell
Paul
P
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006310:Hearing Aids / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data