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Association Between Social Determinants of Health and Hearing Loss and Hearing Intervention in Older US Adults
Samantha Terhaar1, Dhruv Patel2, Ethan Fung2
1Department of Otolaryngology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.
Objective:
Estimate the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing assistance device use among older adults in the United States, and assess for associations with select social determinants of health (SDOH).
Study Design:
Cross-sectional US population-based study using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017-March 2020 (pre-pandemic) data.
Setting:
Non-institutionalized civilian adult US population.
Methods:
US adults aged ≥70 years who completed NHANES audiometry exams were included. Sample weights were applied to provide nationally representative prevalence estimates of hearing loss and hearing assistance device use. Logistic regression analyses assessed associations between SDOH and both hearing loss and hearing assistance device use.
Results:
The overall prevalence of hearing loss was 73.7%. Among those with nonprofound hearing loss, the prevalence of hearing assistance device use was 31.3%. Older individuals (odds ratio [OR], 6.3 [3.668-10.694] comparing ages 80+ versus 70-74 yr) and with lower education (OR, 3.8 [1.455-9.766] comparing
Conclusion:
The prevalence of hearing loss among older adults in the United States remains roughly stable compared with previous population-based estimates, whereas the prevalence of hearing assistance device use is slightly increased. Population-level disparities exist both in the prevalence of hearing loss and hearing assistance device use across SDOH.
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