Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Adults with Hearing Impairment: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010 to 2012

Abstract

BackgroundAs the global population ages, disabling hearing impairment (HI) have been increased rapidly. The impact of HI on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is of great importance to aid the development of strategic plans and to guide therapeutic interventions.PurposeTo evaluate HRQoL in Korean adults with different degrees of HI using EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) and EQ-visual analogue scale (VAS), the preference-based generic measures of HRQoL.MethodsUsing a representative dataset from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from January 2010 to December 2012, EQ-5D questionnaire and EQ- VAS scores of subjects with HI were compared with those of subjects without HI. Logistic regression analysis, with adjustment for covariates, was used to evaluate the impact of HI on HRQoL scales. HI was defined according to the hearing thresholds of pure-tone averages at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kHz of the better hearing ear as follows; mild HI (26 to < 40 dB) and moderate to severe HI (≥ 40 dB).ResultsOf the 16,449 Korean adults in KNHANES (age, 45.0 ± 0.2 years; male, 49.7%), 1757 (weighted prevalence, 7.6%) had mild HI and 890 (3.6%) had moderate to severe HI. Subjects with HI had impaired HRQoL as compared with subjects without HI (EQ-5D, 0.96 ± 0.00 vs. 0.88±0.00 vs. 0.86 ± 0.01 for control vs. mild HI vs. moderate to severe HI, p < 0.001; EQ-VAS, 75.10 ± 0.18 vs. 67.48 ± 0.63 vs. 66.24 ± 0.92 for control vs. mild HI vs. moderate to severe HI, p < 0.001). After adjusting for socio-demographic factors (age, gender, household income, education level, presence of spouse) and health-related behaviors (smoking status, alcohol intake, regular exercise), psychological stress, and the presence of comorbidities (diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, decreased eGFR, and tinnitus), EQ-VAS remained impaired in the moderate to severe HI group (61.72±1.69) as compared with the control group (65.68 ± 1.26, p = 0.004), but EQ-5D impairment disappeared (0.86 ± 0.02 vs.0.88±0.01 for moderate to severe HI vs. control, p = 0.058).ConclusionAfter adjusting for socio-demographic and psychosocial factors and comorbidities, Korean adults with moderate to severe HI rated their health statuses lower than subjects without HI.

Age-Related Hearing Loss With Tinnitus and Physical Frailty Influence the Overall and Domain-Specific Quality of Life of Chinese Community-Dwelling Older Adults

“…These results extend our understanding of the association among the severity of ARHL (8,9), tinnitus (10,18), physical frailty (13,14,26), and the presence of ARHL and/or tinnitus (17) with HRQoL. Furthermore, these findings provide more evidence on the interaction among ARHL, tinnitus, and physical frailty in their relationship with HRQoL after adjusting for demographic, health-related, and psychosocial factors.…”

“…The severity of ARHL ( 9 ) and tinnitus ( 10 ), and the presence of ARHL and tinnitus ( 11 ) have been reported to be associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Physical frailty is an emerging global health burden, affecting ~11% of older community-dwelling adults in high-income countries and having an even higher prevalence in low-income countries ( 2 , 12 ).…”

“…Overall, HRQoL with broader dimensions is more widely used than hearing-related QoL to assess the physical and mental health of patients with ARHL and tinnitus. A series of cross-sectional studies on a Korean adult population assessed HRQoL using the EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) questionnaire, and those with moderate to severe hearing loss had lower health status than those without hearing loss after adjusting for sociodemographic, health-related, and psychological factors, and comorbidities ( 9 ). Moreover, patients with hearing loss with tinnitus have lower mobility, usual activity, and anxiety/depression HRQoL than those with a normal hearing without tinnitus ( 17 ).…”

Association between type of exercise and health-related quality of life in adults without activity limitations: a nationwide cross-sectional study

“…Model 1 was adjusted for age and sex, whereas model 2 was adjusted for age, sex, household income, education level, marital status, and area of residence. Model 3 was additionally adjusted for BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, ADL, and past medical history based on previous studies [29,30]. Associations between type of exercise and HRQoL indices according to age and sex were examined using an ANCOVA after adjusting for all potential confounding variables (age, sex, household income, education level, marital status, area of residence, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, ADL, and past medical history).…”

As condições de saúde e qualidade de vida de indivíduos com déficit auditivo / Health conditions and quality of life of people with hearing loss

“…A identificação de tal relação poderá auxiliar no encaminhamento para a reabilitação. (BAEK, et al, 2016) Um estudo de revisão bibliográfica mostrou que os aparelhos auditivos consistem na principal terapia não invasiva para o déficit auditivo moderado em adultos, e tais tecnologias podem ampliar e melhorar a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em geral e também a aplicada especificamente à audição. (KITTERICK, et al, 2018)…”