Doctor-Patient Communication and Sensory Disabilities among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Findings from NHATS

Older adults with communication disabilities (CDs) encounter challenges across various environments, with the most pronounced difficulties arising in healthcare settings. While CD is a common occurrence, limited research explores the medical and socioeconomic factors contributing to CD in the patient-centered setting. Therefore, our paper explores this interplay between communication experiences for older adults in healthcare contexts.

We combined and cleaned data (N=3725) from 2011 (Round 1) to 2022 (Round 12) taken from The National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and employed a binary logistic model and a weighted model to account for population adjustment to identify prevalent covariates influencing our hypothesis.

In a sample of 3725, health-related concerns (OR = 11.06, 95% CI: 7.81-15.65) significantly contributed to communication difficulties in the doctor's office. Hearing loss (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.05-1.10) and low education levels (below high school) (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.23-2.06) were also associated with communication challenges.

These findings indicate that significant health issues in adults may contribute to the development of communication disorders, underscoring the need for comprehensive support mechanisms. Future research should focus into supportive strategies and improved physician relationships is vital to support the needs to disabled patients.