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Factors Associated With Unilateral Hearing Loss and Impact on Communication in US Adults

Janet S Choi¹, Franklin Wu², Soyun Park²

¹Caruso Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery : Official Journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

|March 23, 2021

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the factors associated with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) and its impact on communication in US adults.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Setting:

Nationally representative sample of US adults.

Methods:

We analyzed data from the 2011-2012 and 2015-2016 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, in which participants aged 20 to 69 years completed an audiometric evaluation (n = 8138). UHL was defined as a speech frequency pure-tone average ≥25 dB in the worse hearing ear and <25 dB in the better hearing ear. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between UHL and relevant factors.

Results:

The prevalence of UHL was 8.1% (95% CI, 7.3%-9.0%) in US adults. Factors associated with UHL included older age, male sex, white race, lower level of education, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and off-work noise exposure. Among adults with UHL, 40% (95% CI, 32%-48%) reported subjective trouble with hearing, a rate higher than the 12% (95% CI, 11%-14%) among normal-hearing adults. After adjusting for relevant factors, adults with UHL were more likely to report difficulties with following conversations with noise (odds ratio [OR], 1.7; 95% CI, 1.2-2.5) and frustration when talking to family and friends (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.9-4.6). Higher levels of communication difficulties were observed with worsening level of UHL.

Conclusions:

Adults with UHL report significant communication difficulties in comparison to normal-hearing adults. Further research is needed to understand the psychosocial impact of UHL on adults and ways to improve communication support for adults with UHL.

Keywords:

communication disability hearing aids unilateral hearing loss

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